


The Velocity of Longing

by Raine_Wynd



Series: Author's Favorites [12]
Category: The A-Team (TV)
Genre: Drama, Kidnapping, Multi, Multiple Partners, Reunions, Romance, Threesome, m/m/f
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-09-26
Updated: 2009-01-26
Packaged: 2017-10-02 04:51:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 36,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raine_Wynd/pseuds/Raine_Wynd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Falling in love wasn't a part of the plan, but neither was a kidnapping....</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm of the firm belief that Amy went on more missions; they just didn't show them. :-) Thanks to Nevada for the beta. Thanks also to LizM, Billy, Viskey, Pam, Closetfan, and everyone on the ATSB list for helping make this better than when I started. Special thanks to shrewreader, for breaking my block on this. Any remaining errors are mine.

_April 1990   
Wednesday_

"So, have you won a Pulitzer yet? Nice office, by the way." His voice, laced with wry humor, underscored the fact that said office happened to be a cubicle large enough to host two guest chairs.

Startled, Amy jerked away from the computer screen and looked up over her battered typewriter at the owner of the voice. Recognition turned to joy as she realized who was standing there and she swiftly moved out of her cubicle to give him a hard hug.

"Face! My God, you're a sight for sore eyes! I knew it; I knew your deaths were staged!" She couldn't believe he was here. He looked just as handsome as ever, if a bit older and slightly fitter; the charm he radiated was just as strong as she remembered. The gray suit was just as undoubtedly Armani, the shoes expensive if well-worn leather. She was less surprised he'd found her in her new job; she'd been on TV enough times.

Face grinned and pulled her close. For a moment, he simply held her tight, and she reveled in the way he felt in her arms, the way she felt being held in his. It seemed too incredible that he was here.

"Beautiful and smart, now that's the Amy I remember. We thought you'd figure it out eventually. Sorry we couldn't give you any sort of confirmation — it was against the rules," he told her, stepping back. "But we're free and clear now. I came to see if you'd like to have dinner with me and Murdock. That is, if you're not busy."

She chuckled. "If I was, I'd make my apologies later. Oh my God, I can't believe you're still alive, and you're here!"

Face grinned. "So is that a yes, you'll have dinner, or are you going to be in shock the rest of the evening?" he asked. "Because if you are, I'd be happy to hold you until you're over your shock."

His words made Amy chuckle and lessened her shock. "Yes, I'll have dinner with you. Let me just close up here and I'll be ready."

He waited patiently as she turned off the computer and pulled her purse out of a drawer in the desk.

"I saw that story you did on that doctor who was selling drugs to kids. How does it feel to be the downfall of a highly respected professional?"

"Relieved, honestly. He was slime." Amy shook her head, remembering the investigative report she'd done. "Funny thing is I would have never uncovered the whole thing if I hadn't gone to ask him about things to look for when choosing a pediatrician for the series I was doing on medicine."

"I noticed you've been doing more TV reporting. Still like being a reporter?" he asked as he led the way towards the elevator.

She offered him a quick smile even as she marveled how easy it felt to be with him, as if it was only yesterday they'd last talked. "Most days, yes. Still with the team?"

Face chuckled. "We don't do missions together, but we have dinner together every other Sunday." He grinned. "We've been together so long, we're pretty much family."

"So why didn't you call me sooner if you'd seen me on TV? That story was a month ago."

"We figured you wouldn't trust a phone call," Face said. "Of the four of us, I'm the one with the most free time, believe it or not. Hannibal's been spending a lot of time with a lady of his and both Murdock and BA work days. I've been busy with trying to manage some of the team's investments, and this is the first afternoon I've had free."

"Understood." She offered him a smile as they boarded the elevator. "God, I can't believe you're here." She reached for his arm, needing to touch him to assure herself he was real.

He grinned and drew her hand to his lips, kissing the back of her palm as he held her gaze. Unable to help herself, she giggled at the predictable flirtation. The elevator paused to admit more passengers, causing it to be full. To Amy's surprise, he pulled her closer, letting her stand pressed against him.

Amy swallowed; suddenly hyperaware of his touch. She was honest enough with herself to know he'd always been attractive to her. All at once, she was aware that the suit Face wore couldn't quite conceal the fact that he was in better shape than she remembered, as if he'd had to work out more. She tried to ignore the sudden tingling in the pit of her stomach.

Out of long habit, Amy didn't try to continue talking. She knew there were too many ears for the kind of questions she wanted to ask him. For his part, he seemed to be content just to hold her as the elevator continued its descent to the ground floor. She felt oddly bereft when he finally released her.

"So what are the other guys up to?" she asked once they were clear of the elevator and heading through the lobby to the visitor parking lot.

"Murdock is working for a semi-private airfield, teaching flying lessons and helping with paperwork. BA bought an auto repair shop and went back to helping out at the community center. Hannibal gave up acting altogether. Claims he's earned his retirement."

"Somehow, I don't see that happening."

Face grinned. "Oh, he's enjoying it, trust me. He still likes to kick my ass just on principle."

Amy was not surprised. "Something tells me you'd miss it if he stopped."

"You think I enjoy getting woken up at oh-dark-thirty as if I was still in basic training?" Face asked dryly, but Amy heard the answer in his words. "I have reservations at Il Julio. Did you want to change for dinner? I don't mind driving."

She glanced down at the simple skirt and top she'd worn. "If we're going there, definitely. Good thing you showed up. I rode in with my friend Robyn, since my car's in the shop, but she left earlier. I was going to call a cab to get home."

"Well, then, perfect timing," Face said with a smile. "What's wrong with your car?"

"Just some regular maintenance, but I'm having them check the brakes, too, so it's taking longer." She grinned. "If I'd known BA had a garage, I'd have taken it to him instead. Maybe next time I will."

"I'm sure he'd be pleased by that," Face agreed.

In companionable silence, they made their way out to his vette. He opened the door for her, and then shut it after she was seated.

"Are you still living in that apartment in Los Feliz?" he asked as he started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"No, I bought a condo when I got back from reporting in Europe two years ago. I was sick of paying more rent for a place I was barely living in." She gave him directions and settled in for the ride.

Once on the road, Amy said, "So tell me what happened, exactly, after the supposed execution."

Face shrugged. "The military caught us, and then offered us a deal: work for them and earn our pardons. We were snagged by an inside man." He snorted. "Figures the day we decide to bring in a guy — Frankie was his name — to help us out, we got screwed. Bad part about that is that Frankie didn't know he was in over his head until we told him. By then, it was too late; the trap was sprung. Took us a few years to get the general to agree we'd done enough, but he was retiring, and he was under pressure to retire all his pet projects, too."

"General? You were working for a general?" At Face's nod, Amy shook her head. "Someone finally caught on to the fact that sending colonels to chase you wasn't going to cut it?"

He smiled, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Apparently."

She digested this a moment. "But you're free now?"

Face grinned. "With a few perks, too. We negotiated a generous settlement, just a few things, like back pay and pensions. Nothing major, really." He sighed. "We lost the fight on promotions, though. Wouldn't give Hannibal his promotion to general, even though it was due him."

"Probably just as well," Amy noted, but she couldn't contain her happiness at the team's freedom. "Could you imagine him if he'd gotten it?"

"Well, if we hadn't been arrested and he'd stayed in the service, he might have been one anyway," Face told her. "Of course, that would have depended on whether or not he managed to not annoy anyone along the way, but—" He shrugged. "I have no doubt he'd have gotten it somehow."

"Now that's a thought," Amy commented with a smile. "I can't believe you're here." She shook her head. "I did try to find out what happened to you, you know. No one's been executed by firing squad in the state of California in decades, then I couldn't find records of your bodies ever being buried."

Face chuckled. "I wondered if you would. Were you in LA when the news hit the wire?"

"No, I'd just started working out of the Hong Kong bureau. Al Massey called me and let me know. I did what digging I could long-distance, but it wasn't much, and then the military press officer paid me a visit."

"What did he tell you?"

"Something I half-believed," she admitted with a rueful shake of her head. "I got used to getting a call from you or Hannibal about every three weeks, and when the phone calls stopped, I started really believing you were gone." She reached across to grasp Face's hand on the gearshift briefly. "I've missed you. Don't do that to me again — I don't think I could survive it."

Face chuckled dryly. "Trust me; I have no desire to repeat the experience."

"You mentioned that you don't do missions anymore. Why not?"

Face smiled as he drove through the evening traffic with easy competence. "We never intended to be a team this long," he told her gently. "We all had plans to live normal lives, and so that's what we're all trying to do."

Amy smiled. "So what are you doing?"

"Investing, learning computers, whatever I feel like really. If I'm careful, I can live off the settlement for quite a while. Of course, you know me, I'm trying to make it stretch farther. Right now, I've a real estate development company — we fix up houses and then sell them."

"That sounds interesting," Amy said, smiling. "How'd you get into it?"

Face grinned. "Hannibal suggested I stop house-sitting and buy my own house. Found a place that had managed to hold out against new development, but it needed work. We ended up doing it as a team project, but I really saw the potential for profit in it." He shrugged, but Amy could see the quiet pride in his accomplishment. "It's turned into a little enterprise."

"I can imagine," she remarked. "And I can see where you'd be good at it, too."

The conversation soon turned to other topics during the forty-five minute drive to Amy's condo. Once at her place, she showered quickly, then changed into attire more appropriate for one of the city's more formal restaurants before touching up her makeup. Face approved of her dress selection, whistling appreciatively. For a moment, she felt like she was going out on a date, then she reminded herself that reunions counted as special occasions.

"Beautiful," he proclaimed. "You're going to make Murdock very jealous of me, you know."

"Jealous? Why on earth would he be —" Confused, Amy took a deep breath, reminding herself that it had been a few years, after all, and she might not know Murdock as well as she thought. "Is that going to be a problem?"

Face looked at her, clearly not expecting that question. For a long moment, he said nothing as the air suddenly filled with electricity. His gaze was riveted on her face, then moved over her body slowly, as if he hadn't quite drunk in just how she looked. There was a tingling in the pit of her stomach and a jangling of nerves as she realized he was looking at her for the first time as a potential lover.

As if hypnotized, he stepped closer. He'd kissed her before, a long time ago, when they'd pretended to be husband and wife. She'd never forgotten how he could kiss with such passion if he didn't entirely mean it. Now she wondered what it would be like if he meant it. She knew if there was no A-Team, there was no reason to coerce her into anything, no reason to seduce her, no reason but his own desire. The thought gave her goose bumps.

His hands slipped up her arms, bringing her closer. His kiss was slow, thoughtful, as if he too remembered this wasn't the first time he'd touched her this way. The touch of his lips was a delicious sensation. Parting her lips, she raised herself to meet his kiss, and quivered at the sweetness of it.

Reluctantly, Face broke the kiss, ending the sensual haze. "No," he said after a long moment, and Amy nearly forgot there'd even been a question. "I don't think Murdock will be jealous that I'm walking in with you. I think he'll be jealous because I kissed you first." Wicked mischief gleamed in Face's eyes. "I'm equally sure there's something we can do to fix that."

"Oh?" Amy blinked. Face flirting with her was to be expected; the man flirted like he breathed. Yet his actions and his words caused a flutter of butterflies in her stomach. It had been years since she'd last spent any length of time with him, after all, and she grew nervous. It was one thing to assume he had ulterior motives; it was another to wonder what they signified.

Face just smiled. "I'll tell you after dinner." He changed the subject and guided her out of her condo. On the way, Face used his mobile phone to call Murdock and let him know they were on their way.

They arrived at the restaurant to find Murdock waiting for them. It was a bit of a surprise to see him dressed in a suit and tie, even though she knew the restaurant had a formal dress code.

Murdock looked at Amy. "Face was right — you look beautiful." He hugged her, lingering a bit longer than was proper for just friends, before he drew back. For a moment, he looked like he was going to kiss her, and then just smiled and stepped back.

"You look great yourself," Amy replied as they were seated at the table.

"His fault," Murdock said, gesturing at Face as he smiled. "I'd be happy in jeans and a t-shirt."

"Somehow, I can see that," Amy said with a laugh as their server arrived to greet them and let them know about the specials. Amy noted she'd been given the menu without prices; now she knew something was really up. She wasn't all that hungry, suddenly too nervous to eat much, but she didn't want to let either man know she was feeling apprehensive.

After their server took their orders, Murdock started asking her questions about some of the stories she'd covered. To her surprise, she began to relax and enjoy herself. It had been a long time since she'd spent any time with either of them. The last time she'd had dinner with them, they'd been meeting to go over information they'd requested she obtain.

It was a heady feeling, to be the focus of attention by two very charming and handsome men, and Amy decided to simply go with the flow. She found herself sliding into the rhythm of their company as if the years of separation hadn't happened. Still, there was a new twist that kept her from completely relaxing. They flirted outrageously with her, competing with each other to see who could make her blush or laugh, and were both so over the top she had a hard time taking either of them seriously. Yet an undercurrent of desire hummed between the three of them, enough to make Amy wonder.

Near the end of dinner, after the bill had been paid and they were lingering over the last of the wine, Amy decided she'd had enough of wondering. "All right, you two, what's really going on? You've carefully avoided telling me something all night, and if I believed you meant even a quarter of the flirting you've been doing, then I know something's really up."

Face looked at Murdock. "You want to tell her? It's your idea."

Murdock smiled, but there was a challenge in his expression. "No, I think I'll let you take her home and explain. I have to meet Hannibal and drop off his stuff anyway. He'll wonder if I'm late."

"Then I'd rather not do it here." Turning to Amy, Face smiled. "Shall we go? I promise I'll answer your question in the car."

She stared at them a moment. Remembering that both men were capable of digging in and telling her anything but the whole truth, she reined in her impatience with a sigh and nodded agreement. "All right," she said, "but this better be good."

"Oh, I think you'll be surprised," Murdock promised her as he helped her out of her chair. He kept a hand on the small of her back as he guided her out of the restaurant while Face led the way back to the Vette. She was hyperaware of his touch, of his closeness, of his tall, lean body next to hers. For a moment, she wondered if the fact she hadn't been in a relationship in years was causing her to feel more attracted to Murdock than she should for an old friend. Then she glanced over at him and realized that wasn't entirely the case.

"Wait, before you get in," he cautioned her.

She stopped, one hand on the door of the car, the other on the seat, and looked at him quizzically.

Murdock smiled and moved so that he stood directly in front of her. "There's something I've been wondering for a long time," he said.

"Oh?"

"Yes," he agreed. "Whether or not you're as good of a kisser as Face says you are. After all, we pretended to be married once, but I never got to kiss you, not even then."

Then he leaned in and kissed her gently, coaxingly. Confusion reigned for a moment before she wondered if Murdock and Face had some weird bet going. It wasn't fair to not prove Face right, if that was the case. She'd never in her wildest dreams imagined Murdock would be kissing her. Yet, here he was, doing exactly that, and sending unexpected and equally confusing thrills through her in the process. Reluctantly, Murdock stepped back. Flashing an easy grin, he then helped her into the passenger seat of the car.

"Good night, Amy," he told her as he shut the door.

To Face, he said, "I'll meet you back at the house."

"I'll call you when I leave Amy's," Face promised as he started up the car.

Caught in a riot of emotions, Amy said nothing for the length of time it took Face to leave the restaurant's parking lot and pull out onto the street. Nothing made sense, not the way she'd reacted to Murdock's kiss, not the way both men had flirted with her, not the undercurrent of need she still sensed from Face. There was only one explanation that made any sense.

"What's going on?" Amy asked suspiciously as Face headed down the street. "What do you need me for so badly you're willing to seduce me to do it?"

"Really, Amy, who do you think we are?" Face said, sounding annoyed. "We've never had to resort to such tactics, not with you. All we ever had to do was ask, and you'd be there to help."

"Then I'm confused," she admitted promptly. "It's been three years since I even talked to you, and that was a rather quick phone call, as I recall. I've always seen you as a friend, but you have to admit, this is out of the blue, even for you. You've never kissed me except when we were pretending I was your girlfriend. Murdock — I'd never thought in a million years he'd kiss me. Do you just have some weird bet going on?"

"Not a bet, but it is Murdock's idea," Face said as he navigated the streets. "He got to thinking about you, started talking to me, and we both realized we'd missed you a lot."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "All right, I'll buy that, but you usually save Il Julio for very special occasions — the last time we went there it was for Hannibal's birthday. You both kissed me, without the reason of some mission as justification. You both flirted with me throughout dinner, in a way that if I got freaked out you could just claim you were teasing me. I still feel like I'm missing something, but I get the definite impression you guys want a bit more than just 'hey, let's hang out'."

Face quickly pulled over to the side of the road. Cars whizzed by as he put the car in park and set the parking brake. Looking directly at her, he answered, "Yes. We'd like to date you, if you'll have us."

Amy was glad he'd pulled over; if he'd said that while the car was still in motion, she'd probably have caused an accident. Not even in her wildest dreams had that concept ever entered her head. Be Face's girlfriend for one night that wasn't pretend? Sure. Find out if Murdock ever stopped practicing his flirting on her and mean it? Sure. Date both of them?

"Are you crazy?" she burst out, staring at him.

He didn't quite smile, and there was a hint of unease in the way his left hand tightened momentarily on the steering wheel. "No, but Murdock is. Was. May yet still be." Face, normally so unflappable, tried to smile again and had to swallow hard instead. His nervousness startled Amy and betrayed that he wasn't nearly as calm as he wanted to be about this. That alone told her this was important.

"Face?" Amy asked softly. "Are you okay with this?"

"Asking you to date us is his idea." Face didn't quite shrug so much as move his shoulders restlessly. "And the more he talked about it, the more I wanted it as well." He shook his head ruefully. "We've missed you. No one we've met since has been you."

She continued to stare at him, not quite sure how to deal with what he'd just said. After a minute, she said slowly, "I don't know whether to be flattered or scared that you both missed me enough to decide you wanted to date me. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact you haven't been dead, and then you throw me this curveball and expect me to throw it back like you've never been gone."

"I'm sorry. We got a little used to living life as if tomorrow wasn't going to be around. I don't want you to be scared, either; I know this is a lot to take in all at once." He chuckled dryly. "We're rushing you, aren't we?"

Amy sighed. "I know you, I know you tend to move quickly when you've wanted someone or something, and " She took a deep breath. "For all the times I heard Murdock debate whether or not to do something, once he decided to, there was no stopping him either. Now I feel like I'm being offered something I've never even considered possible, and I'm scared that I'll lose you as friends."

"There aren't many women I'd make this offer to," Face said quietly. "It's not my standard operating procedure, not by far. It may have been Murdock's idea to begin with, but he's right — you're the only woman we know we'd even consider dating together. You're not only sexy and beautiful inside and out, but you know who we are — not the masks we put on for most people. I can count on one hand the number of people other than BA and Hannibal who know us that well.

"If you say no, Amy, we aren't going to walk away — we'll take your friendship if that's all you can and want to give."

Amy's eyes widened at this information. "Give me a minute or two to think, okay?'

"Of course," he said as he pulled the car back onto the road, expertly handling it through the late evening traffic.

She'd wanted him once, she remembered, had been nearly giddy the first time she'd played his wife. Murdock had flirted with her, too, but he always treated it as if he was simply practicing his skill, and so she'd learned not to take him seriously. Had she simply been blind? Or were they so good at hiding their true feelings that she'd simply been misled to believe what they'd wanted her to believe? Or was their desire for her something more recent, something they hadn't themselves realized until she was unavailable? The onset of their desire didn't really matter, she realized; what mattered more was that it was now a reality.

Could she do this? Clearly, if they were suggesting she date both of them, then it followed that they'd already discussed it between them. They were both older than her; it followed that they probably had prior experience doing this as well. She'd never attempted anything like this, but they'd proven to her that they wouldn't deliberately do anything to hurt her. All of her experiences with them had always involved some sort of insanity: improvised weapons, cars flying through the air, plans that worked but not as originally intended. Why should dating them be any different?

"Can we take it a bit slow? I've never done anything this crazy before, and —" She took a deep breath and exhaled it, feeling butterflies in her stomach. "Just thinking about it makes me nervous and excited and " She wasn't inexperienced; she considered herself to be very sexually knowledgeable. She could feel the blush starting to creep up her neck and had to take another deep breath. "I can't believe the things my mind is coming up with right now."

Face chuckled. "Thoroughly scandalous, isn't it?' he teased her, taking his hand off the gearshift momentarily to take her hand and squeeze it gently, reassuringly.

She had to laugh. "This is surreal, you know that? Never in a million years would I have dreamed we'd even be having this conversation."

Face grinned. "Well, it's not like we could have had it even three years ago. Hannibal would have had my — well, let's just say he'd had a fit if you'd been my lover then," he pointed out reasonably. "It was bad enough that he sometimes thought I flirted with you too much.

"We didn't get our pardons until last spring. It took us a year to get to a point where we felt we could even go and contact the people who knew us before we made our deal with the general." He took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. "We were very scary people after all the missions he sent us on. You wouldn't have liked to see me then, and Murdock wasn't in much better shape."

Hearing the note of sad knowledge in his voice, Amy reached out to clasp his hand.

"Can you tell me what kind of missions you were sent on?"

"The kind where if you're caught, they'll deny they even knew you." Face sighed. "The kind we were all trained for, frankly, and did in 'Nam. I I'd had hopes we wouldn't do those kinds of things again, but if we didn't, then they'd make sure that we were really dead."

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that," she said quietly. "But if you think dating me is going to make it all better "

"I know it won t," Face said roughly. "I've tried that enough times with other people to know it doesn't work. I just — all those years ago, when you were pretending to be my girl, I sometimes wished it wasn't pretend, okay? Murdock's had a crush on you for years. Neither of us knew where you were until we saw you reporting on that doctor — we figured you'd left LA and stayed gone."

"But —" Amy knew the team was capable of finding people who'd vanished; the excuse sounded lame. "Face, I remember that for other things you've wanted, you've let very few things stand in the way of you getting it. Why did you let a month go by?"

Face glanced at her as they pulled to a stop at a stoplight. "For one thing, we had to be sure you weren't seeing anyone else. For another, Murdock had to convince me you weren't going to freak out at the suggestion," he told her as the light changed and he accelerated through the intersection. "It took a while. We had to figure out if we were both insane for wanting you in the first place. Then we argued over why we shouldn't just pursue you separately and let you choose who you wanted more. We decided it was going to be too difficult for us to not trip over each other if we went that route. He figures that if anyone has a choice in this matter, it's you. Like I said, we'll take your friendship, Amy, but we'd like a bit more than that, this time around. And yes, we'll go as slow as you like." He flashed a smile. "But I'll warn you now, neither of us is really good at waiting."

"I remember," Amy said, chuckling. She took a deep breath, hating the way her nerves weren't yet settled. "But I don't want either of you rushing me into not thinking about this."

"Afraid we're going to con you into it?" Face asked seriously as he pulled into her condo's parking lot, parking in a visitor's space. He turned off the engine and looked at her, reading her apprehension. "You're not just anyone, Amy. If you were, we wouldn't be discussing this — we'd already be having sex. I have more respect for you than that, and so does Murdock."

Some of Amy's anxiety vanished in the wake of his words. She knew all too well he was a master of them, yet something in the way he spoke told her he was telling the truth.

"I'm beginning to wonder if I'm crazy for agreeing to this." She took a deep breath and let it out. "I might regret this later, but yes, I'll date both you and Murdock."

He smiled and got out of the car and opened her door, helping her out.

"You're not crazy," he assured her. "And thank you for saying yes," he said sincerely a heartbeat before he kissed her. It was sweet kiss, full of promises and as-yet-unsatisfied yearning. He stepped back almost reluctantly. "Do you want me to walk you to your door?"

Amy smiled. "I'd like that," she agreed, and so he did. The role of perfect gentleman came easily to him, and she felt her heart trip with the knowledge that he was actually closer to a rogue than a gentleman.

He kissed her one more time after she'd opened her door, then deliberately stepped back, pulling out a business card from his suit pocket as he did so. She read desire in his eyes, and his voice was husky with promise as he said with what she was sure was deliberate formality, "Thank you for a wonderful evening. My numbers are on the card. Call me soon." He handed her the card and, dropping the formal air, looked over her one more time, as if to memorize her. She took the card as she felt the heat in his gaze.

He smiled. "Sleep well, Amy." He then executed a perfect pivot and headed down the hall towards the elevator.

She watched him go and admired the way he looked from the rear, then caught herself and giggled. She forced herself to shut the door and took a deep breath as she leaned against the door.

One thing was sure, she decided, she couldn't say her life wasn't going to be interesting.

"So, who are the flowers from?"

Amy looked up from the file folder she was reading and saw a willowy but curvaceous black woman standing at her desk, admiring the array of tulips and roses in a green vase. "Oh, hi, Robyn. They're from some old friends of mine."

Robyn looked at her disbelievingly. "What kind of old friends? Are they handsome? Come on, spill. You know you can tell me anything."

Amy smiled at the other woman's enthusiasm. "I've known them for several years now, and yes, they are very handsome, very charming, and very determined. I haven't seen them for a while, and they surprised me with dinner last night."

"And they sent you flowers the next day? Do they have brothers?" Robyn said enviously.

Chuckling, Amy said, "Not that I know of," she admitted. "And the flowers are a thank you for not getting mad that they didn't stay in touch."

"So why did you lose touch? I mean, if I knew a couple of guys like that, I'd be hanging on for dear life!"

"They were doing some super-secret stuff for the Army, and weren't allowed to let anyone know where they were."

Robyn's eyes widened. "So how do they look in uniform? Have you seen them?"

"They look great," Amy enthused, knowing that her friend liked men in uniform. "I don't have any pictures with me right now, but they were both officers." She chuckled softly. "And gentlemen when it suits them to be."

Robyn pressed a hand to her heart. "I'm so jealous. How'd you meet them?"

Amy smiled. "I interviewed them for a story on Vietnam veterans," she hedged. "We became friends."

"And you haven't had the slightest, teeny little interest in either of them?" Robyn wondered.

Remembering the way they'd kissed her the night before, Amy felt the blush start. "Well, of course, I'm not dead," she shot back, suddenly uncomfortable with the secret she was keeping. "But I didn't think they were interested in me that way."

Robyn nodded knowingly. "I'd say the flowers are a huge tip-off that they are. My ex-boyfriend and I were friends for six years before we got together; we lasted another four years before we figured out we weren't really right for each other. Friends turning into lovers can happen, and if my experience is anything to go by, it certainly makes the sex a lot more fun, so I'd say go for it if you have the chance. So, are you going to call them back and set up a date?"

"Robyn!"

"What? If I had two guys interested in me, I'd be jumping all over the chance. Hell, at this point, I'd take just one." She rolled her eyes. "My love life sucks ass. Besides, no one says you can't pick who you like better and just date him."

"True," Amy conceded. "I should at least call and thank them for the flowers."

"You do that," Robyn said encouragingly. "Let me know how it goes, okay?"

"I will," Amy promised her friend.

After Robyn had departed, Amy looked at the flowers and took a deep breath before fishing Face's business card out of her purse. Remembering that Face tended to be more available on his mobile phone, she tried that number first.

"Hello?" Face greeted. In the background, she could hear the distinct sounds of traffic and wind; it sounded like she'd caught him on the freeway.

"Thanks for the flowers. They're very lovely."

She could almost see his grin. "You're welcome. The tulips were Murdock's idea."

She chuckled. "Somehow, I can see that. Tell him thanks for me, will you?"

"Of course. I'm glad you called, Amy — I was going to see if you wanted to join us for a movie Saturday. I'll warn you now; it's supposed to be something one of Hannibal's actor friends is in."

"Oh, no," Amy groaned, remembering other movies. "I hope it's nothing like Terror of the Basilisk."

Face laughed. "Have no idea," he said cheerfully, "but we can hope. If nothing else, we can try to convince him to see something you want."

The hopeful note in his voice made Amy chuckle again.

"Will you come? I know Hannibal would love to see you, and so will BA."

"Well, if only to rescue you from the D-movie of the week," Amy teased. "Where and when?"

"The three-thirty show at the Grand Cinema," he told her. "Do you want me or Murdock to pick you up?"

"No, I'll just meet you there," she told him. "I have some errands to run in that neighborhood anyway."

"All right," he conceded. "We'll see you then. Enjoy the rest of your day, Amy." His voice made the words nearly a caress and she shivered.

"You, too, Face," she managed, and hung up the phone.

"Why is it that I only see really bad movies with you guys when Hannibal picks the movie?" Amy complained as she stepped out of the theatre and out onto the street. She blinked as the sunlight hit her face and the guys surrounded her. Still, she couldn't help the grin that tugged at her face; she was glad to have spent a lazy Saturday afternoon this way. The theatre had been mostly empty, despite the first-run showing. In their usual fashion, the guys had taken turns offering low-voiced commentary on the movie. For a moment, Amy could almost believe the years of separation hadn't ever happened. They'd gotten together to see movies like this before, snatching moments of normality out of a life lived on the run.

"It wasn't that bad," Hannibal countered.

"Yes, it was," BA said. "You know it's bad when the crazy fool's ideas for how it should have gone make sense."

"Hey!" Murdock protested. "I'm not crazy. I have the letter to prove it."

Amy chuckled. It seemed so natural to slip her arm around Murdock and hug him briefly, yet she found herself wishing for a bit more contact. Since she'd shown up, neither he nor Face had touched her in any way that wasn't simply that of a close friend, and the difference was driving her crazy. She shoved her desire down with a firm hand and focused on what she wanted to say.

"I believe you," she said solemnly. "But I don't think casting Wiley E. Coyote could have improved that movie."

"She's right, Hannibal," Face agreed. "Are you sure your friend was even in that movie?"

Hannibal shook his head. "Must've been something they left on the cutting room floor."

The team groaned at the predictable response. "At least it wasn't dubbed like the last one," Hannibal offered.

"Might have improved it," Murdock said brightly.

"Amy, are you joining us for dinner?" Hannibal asked, changing the subject.

Amy looked surprised at the question, and then she realized he was giving her the opportunity to refuse. Something told her Face and Murdock hadn't said anything to their former commander about the offer they'd made her. They'd sat next to her in the theatre, but hadn't done anything that might have been construed as flirting. She breathed a silent sigh of relief. She wasn't sure what Hannibal would think, but suspected she'd be in for a lecture for agreeing to the offer regardless.

She smiled. "I'd love to join you for dinner. Did you want me to follow you or "

"Don't be silly," Hannibal told her with finality. "There's enough room in the van."

She followed them down to the parking garage, expecting to see the familiar black-with-red-pinstripe van. When she was ushered into a newer, silver-painted van, she said, "Um, guys? What happened to the old van?"

"It got blown up," BA told her.

"Too many people know to look for it if they want the A-Team," Hannibal added. "We decided we didn't need to borrow trouble if we wanted to live normal lives."

"Makes sense," Amy remarked after a moment. "So how come you kept the 'Vette, Face?"

He looked appalled at the suggestion. "Give up my 'Vette? When BA's worked so hard on it?"

BA snorted. "You didn't have a problem blowing up my van," he growled.

"Come on, BA, the transmission was so shot in that van, you were holding it together on a wing and prayer," Face countered.

"It was my van!"

"Guys," Hannibal said warningly. "We've been over this. So, Amy, are you still driving that convertible Face helped you buy?"

She smiled. "No, I sold it when I realized I was spending more time overseas than here. Finally got around to buying another car a couple months ago, but I'm thinking about getting something else."

"Oh, what did you get?" BA asked.

Amy grinned. "A Sunbird convertible; it's not anything really fancy."

"Nice car," BA said, "but it has a recall on it. Did you get it fixed?"

"You sold that little Triumph?" Face asked incredulously before Amy could answer. "I worked so hard on that deal!"

"Sorry," Amy apologized, "but I really wasn't driving it. What recall? I just got it out of the shop."

"You bring it to a dealer?"

"No, the garage is one of the best in the city," Amy said, adding hastily, "I thought."

"Bring it to my garage and I'll take care of it," BA told her.

"I'll do that," Amy promised.

That led into a discussion about cars that filled the twenty minute ride to the restaurant. The restaurant itself turned out to be the same place where Amy had often met the team, though it had changed names and cuisines since the last time they'd been there and now featured a fairly unassuming, if typically West Coast-inspired, menu.

Amy ended up seated between Face and Murdock, with BA and Hannibal on the other side of the table She'd half-expected either Face or Murdock to flirt with her throughout dinner. Somehow, she was disappointed when they didn't and continued to treat her as a friend. The closest contact was in the press of their legs against hers, easily excused as accidental to the width of the bench seat.

She managed to hide her disappointment in getting reacquainted with Hannibal and BA, who were as delighted to see her again as she was them. By the time they brought her back to the parking garage where she'd left her car, she'd convinced herself that Face and Murdock had clearly reconsidered their offer, or worse.

Then Face volunteered to walk her to her car, since she'd parked on a level inaccessible to vans. Murdock promptly claimed to need to walk Billy, and then circled back around so that they both ended up walking her to her car.

"Thanks for inviting me along," Amy told them as she stood outside her car.

"You're welcome," Murdock said promptly. "But in case you were wondering—" He leaned in and kissed her briefly. "We didn't forget you said yes."

Face came up behind her and hugged her gently. "We just figured you might want to enjoy the day without that pressure." He laid a kiss on her cheek, which, since she'd turned her head to look at him, landed on her lips instead.

He smiled at the accidental switch, but kept his kiss as chaste as Murdock had, which only made her long for more even as she was glad they hadn't pushed. Releasing her, he stepped back. "Did you want to come to dinner tomorrow at our house?"

Regretfully, Amy shook her head. "Sorry, but I promised a friend I'd help paint her living room."

"Another time, then."

She nodded and got into her car. "I'll call you," she promised as she started up the car. Face moved out of the way to stand next to Murdock. She waved goodbye to them, then carefully backed out and drove away.

Both men looked at each other for a moment before Murdock asked, "If I start running now, do you think I'll catch her?"

"Not today," Face said regretfully.

"I'm really, really fast," Murdock pleaded.

Face shook his head. "Come on; let's get back to the van before Hannibal wonders where we are."

"Or what we're doing?" Murdock returned with a mischievous grin. He pulled Face into a thoroughly scandalous kiss before gently turning him towards the elevator.

Face blew out a breath, shaking his head slightly. His desire for the other man still had the power to scare him senseless sometimes. What made it worse was that he knew Murdock had aroused him deliberately. Part of it was Murdock's desire for Amy spilling over into the lover he could touch, which Face didn't mind receiving. Part of it was simply Murdock wanted to see if he could recover before they saw Hannibal. He took another breath, ignoring his lover's amusement.

"Did you tell Amy about us?" Murdock wondered as Face tried to find his composure.

"Not yet," Face said, earning a glare. "What?"

Murdock didn't say anything for a moment. Then he said, "I love you, Face, but sometimes sometimes the fact you got used to denying we have a relationship really gets to me." He spoke with the same resignation as someone late for an appointment and stuck at a railroad crossing with a long train just beginning to pass by.

For a moment, Face could only stare at his lover, suddenly aware he'd miscalculated in not disclosing everything all at once. A surge of resentment rose in him — did Murdock really expect him to abandon years of discretion? — but he forced it down, aware that his lover was far more demonstrative than he was, that part of the motivation behind the kiss was to prove (yet again) that the reason for discretion didn't matter anymore.

"I didn't want to shock her," he said, a heartbeat late.

"I know," Murdock said in the same resigned tone. "Next time we see her, I'll tell her. Save you the trouble." He walked a short distance away.

Whistling, he called, "Billy! Come here, boy, time to go!" He waited a beat then mimed stopping a dog from slobbering all over him while trying to get a leash on his pet.

Then he looked over at Face. "Well?" he asked expectantly, his right hand poised as if he'd taken hold of Billy's leash.

Face bit back the apology he knew he'd spoken far too many times before. The argument was too old to rehash now, too much a part of who they were, for any apologies or discussion to have value. With a sigh, he nodded and headed towards Murdock.

One week later

Amy dialed the number listed as Face's home number with nervous fingers. It rang three times before it was picked up.

"Bert and Ernie's Playhouse, how can I help you?" Murdock answered.

"Hi, Murdock, it's Amy," she greeted. "How are you?"

"Better since you're on the line," he said seriously. "We were beginning to wonder if you'd decided you hated us."

"I don't hate you," Amy said, shocked at the thought. "I got busy with work. Plus I'm, well, a little scared and nervous. Last time two guys asked me out, it was for senior prom, and I didn't like one of them as much as the other."

Murdock chuckled. "It's okay, querida. If you weren't a little afraid, I'd worry. It's normal to be apprehensive of a new situation. So what can I do for you?"

"I thought this was Face's home number — he wasn't answering his mobile."

"I live here, too," Murdock told her gently. "Didn't he tell you? He bought a big old house north of the city. You should come see it — we spent six months renovating it as a team project. Just finished it in December, actually." He sounded proud of the effort.

"He did mention something about that," Amy said, nodding, forgetting that Murdock couldn't see her. "So how come he's not answering his phone?"

"He's out with a realtor looking at some property he's thinking of buying. He probably left his phone in the car; he tends to do that when he's focused on a deal."

"Oh. So you won't feel like my second choice if I asked you if you were interested in doing anything with me?"

He laughed. "No, I was planning on stopping by and seeing you anyway. Want to go flying with me?"

"As long as no one is shooting us, the plane doesn't have any problems, and there are no parachutes involved, sure."

"Are you implying that I'd ever fly a plane that isn't safe?" Indignation laced his voice.

"And how many times have I flown with you where that was the case, hmm?" Amy asked dryly.

"Right, we'll pretend your experience with Howlin' Mad Air has been entirely blissful, shall we?" he said quickly.

She chuckled. "Shall I meet you at the airport?"

"No, let me pick you up. We'll fly out of the airfield I'm working at, and it's a little hard to find if you don't know where you're going. Face told me how to get to your place, so I'll see you in an hour, okay?"

"See you then," Amy agreed.

Murdock was prompt, arriving in a battered, burgundy-and-primer-colored sedan that bore no hint of who had manufactured it or what model it was. Red reflective tape covered one rear taillight; the rear license plate had been hung with wire. It was the first time Amy had seen Murdock's car, and seeing it, she knew she'd never be able to not spot it in any parking lot.

"So how many times has Face offered to buy you something different?" Amy asked dryly as she stepped up to the car.

Murdock shot her a quick grin as he met her halfway. "About a million times. But it makes BA happy to work on it."

Amy smiled. "You wouldn't be deliberately making things wrong so he can fix it, would you?"

"Now, why would I do a crazy thing like that?" he asked innocently. "BA's got his hands full as it is, running that garage, taking care of his mama and those kids at the community center."

Amy crossed her arms as she shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder how you two stay friends. Anyone listening to you and him argue would wonder if you are friends."

"We're blood brothers," Murdock said solemnly, as if that explained everything. Then he grinned. "He'd think I was sick if I didn't bug him, you know. Before we go, may I do one thing?"

"What's that?"

He looked at her, considering. "May I kiss you?

For a moment, Amy hesitated. Now that choice was in her hands, she wasn't entirely sure she should say yes. Yet the way he looked at her, with hope and desire and understanding all mixed in, made her want not to refuse. It was only a kiss. He'd kissed her before, when she'd thought it was a bet, and then more chastely a week ago. She'd liked his kisses then, hadn't she? One kiss didn't automatically mean they'd have sex. Suddenly nervous, she swallowed hard. "Yes."

He smiled gratefully before he stepped closer and placed his lips on hers.

He kissed her with such welcoming tenderness, Amy found herself wondering why she'd been nervous about it. Desire smoldered into flame, slow and all the more devastating because she hadn't known he could incite that fire in her. Nor had she known she would, in the space of a heartbeat, crave even more of that heat. The depth of it left her feeling stunned, and more than a little aware that while she'd agreed to date him and Face, she hadn't expected this.

Slowly, reluctantly, Murdock pulled back. "Oh, Amy, I want you so much." Lust glittered in his eyes, and she watched him fight for control, thrilling her with newfound knowledge. "Go ahead, get in the car. I—I'll get us going in a minute." He gave her a crooked smile. "Damned dog, he runs off when you're not looking. Billy! Come back here!"

Amy hid a smile as she climbed into the passenger seat of the car, which had a surprisingly luxurious interior, despite the duct tape holding the glove compartment shut. Murdock made a show of shooing his invisible dog into the back seat before sliding into the driver's seat.

The airfield turned out to be a semi-private field in the next county, tucked away from civilization.

They parked in front of a large building which turned out to be the administrative offices and the control tower for the airfield. Amy could see a sign for a small caf housed in the same building. Murdock pulled out a small black bag from the back seat of his car before they headed up a short flight of stairs to the control room.

A heavy-set woman with graying hair and glasses manned the counter. Amy's quick glance saw that the counter held a large ledger, an assortment of pens and flyers for various workshops and lessons. A calendar hung on the far wall; one side of the counter was occupied by communication equipment, from which Amy could hear bursts of conversation that sounded like they were from pilots already in the air; a young Indian man appeared to be in charge of the radio.

The Indian man was the first to spy Murdock, but as he was in the midst of a radio call, only grinned when he saw Murdock walk in with his arm around Amy.

"That's Ravi. He does all the tower communications," Murdock told her in an undertone as they approached the counter. The woman saw them approach and her eyes widened as they took in Murdock and Amy.

"Murdock, you should have told me you were bringing a special friend," the woman remarked with a grin. She extended her hand to Amy. "I'm Judy Lammas. My brother owns this place, but I run everything. You're on Channel 11 news, aren't you?"

Amy smothered a chuckle at the woman's statement and shook hands. "Yes, I'm Amy Allen. I do the '11 At Your Side' reports."

"Knew you looked familiar. Ever flown with Murdock before?"

Amy smiled. "A few times," she admitted. "Never here, though."

Judy nodded acknowledgement of that; she looked as though she would have warned Amy if she'd said otherwise. "Murdock, the Cherokee's rented. Did you want a 172 or the 182?"

"The 182, please. I'm in the 172s all week."

Judy reached into a cabinet full of keys and pulled out a color-coded key ring. "The 182's right up front — Mike hasn't gotten it parked in the hanger yet, but the tank's full, so you're in luck. You only have an hour, though — it's rented after that."

Murdock signed the ledger quickly. "An hour's fine, Judy."

Judy grinned and handed over the key ring. "Have fun, you two."

"Come on, this way," Murdock told Amy, leading her out the door at one end of the control room. They descended the stairs to a small grassy area that separated the tarmac from the building.

To Amy, one small plane looked pretty much like another, but Murdock clearly knew which plane was what. He led her to a plane parked about a hundred yards in front of the building.

"Hold on to this a sec, will you?"

Not waiting for her assent, he handed the bag he'd been carrying over to her and unlocked the door of the plane. Muttering to himself, he leaned into the plane and emerged a minute later with a clipboard and a pen, which he then handed to Amy.

She stared at the paper clipped to the clipboard. "Pre-flight checklist?" she asked. "You actually have a list?"

Murdock chuckled. "Yes, but I figured this time you might want to help me go through it, since every other time you've flown with me you haven't seen one."

"Are you patronizing me?" Amy asked suspiciously.

He had the grace to look sheepish. "If it makes you feel better. Besides, it goes faster with two people. Just read off what's on the list, and don't worry if none of it makes any sense to you."

Amy looked at him skeptically, but decided to indulge him. "All right. Before I do that, what's in this bag?"

"Headsets. One for you, one for me. It also has my charts and a few other things that as the pilot I need."

"Okay," she said, nodding as she remembered using a headset in other planes he'd flown. Can I set the bag down somewhere?"

"Just stick it on the passenger seat for now," Murdock told her, and she followed his direction.

By the time they taxied down the runway and were in the air, Amy did feel much better about flying with Murdock since she'd seen how thoroughly he checked the plane. She'd never seen him do that before, which wasn't surprising since she'd often been assigned to help run a scam or just hang back, out of harm's way, when she'd been a part of the team and therefore had missed out on some of the stuff for which Murdock had been responsible.

Flying in that plane with Murdock turned out to be an intimate experience, much more than she'd anticipated. Always before, they'd needed a plane big enough to move the entire team, and so she'd never flown in something this small. It felt like there wasn't much between her and the sky, and watching Murdock, she saw how at home he was here.

"You ever wish you could stay up here?" Amy asked after they'd been in the air several minutes.

Murdock grinned. "Sometimes," he agreed. "I can't remember — do you get dizzy easily?"

"No, why?"

"Close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Just trust me, okay? I want to try something."

Amy looked at him, not sure what he planned to do, but willing to try anything. She closed her eyes. A moment later, she felt the microphone part of her headset being moved before his lips press against hers in a tender, but shockingly erotic, kiss.

Her eyes flew open and she opened her eyes to find him leaned over her as far as he could. One of his hands rested on her shoulder. Fear and desire shot through her, twin arrows of emotion, and she had to strain to keep her voice calm. "If this plane's not on autopilot, I'd recommend you return your attention to flying."

He grinned. "It'll be fine for a minute."

"Murdock," Amy said warningly. "If you want me to kiss you again sometime in the next hour, I'd suggest you go back to being a pilot."

"I'd rather put my hands on you," he complained, but compiled.

"Maybe later," Amy teased. Feeling brave, she put her hand on his thigh. "After we land."

He glanced down at her hand, took a shuddering breath, and then looked at her. "Don't tempt me, Amy. I don't have very good control of myself some days, and I've had a lot of time to think about how much I want you. That kiss earlier — I'd be lying if I didn't say I had half a mind to introduce you to the mile-high club."

She met his gaze and read the desire there. She felt a lurch of excitement within her at the knowledge her touch could inflame him so. Feeling dangerous, she moved her hand closer to the inside of his thigh.

He caught her hand. "I thought you wanted to go slow?" he reminded her. "Or was that just Face?"

Suddenly ashamed of her boldness, Amy jerked her hand back. "I did — I mean, I do want to go slow, even if the way you kiss me just makes me want more, and never in a million years did I expect to feel that way about you. I just God, Murdock, I never took you seriously when you flirted with me!"

He grinned. "You weren't supposed to, back then. Don't beat yourself up over it. Besides, I was out of my mind; I didn't take myself seriously." He shrugged.

More seriously, he said, "There's one thing you should know, though."

"Oh, what's that?"

Murdock was quiet as he stared out the windshield at the clouds as the minutes dragged on. Finally, he said, "I'm in love with Face and have been for years."

For a moment, Amy froze. Scattered pieces of memories suddenly took on a new slant. A thousand nosy questions rose to mind, but Amy shoved them aside for the one she really wanted answered immediately. "Are you involved with each other now?"

"Yes."

Amy's eyes widened at that revelation. Implications spun out, filling her head and heart with possibilities she hadn't previously considered. It was one thing to say yes to date two friends, but two friends she hadn't known were involved with each other changed matters. If she backed out now because she couldn't handle their relationship, would they still be friends? Fear found a home in the pit of her stomach. She'd just found them again; she wasn't sure she could stand losing them for a second time. Not when she knew she was more attracted to Murdock than she'd anticipated being.

"No wonder you decided to jointly pursue me," she remarked finally.

"Even if we weren't lovers, we'd still want to see you," Murdock told her. "Face and I talked a lot about that; we had to decide how we were going to do this. I promised him I wouldn't contact you until he'd made up his mind, one way or the other." He chuckled dryly. "Then I lost the coin toss on who was going to see you first and he took away my double-headed coin. Besides, he's better at words than me."

Some of Amy's tension eased at his words. She laughed as Murdock's smile widened. "So you really didn't have to drop off stuff to Hannibal that night at the restaurant. You wanted to make him ask me?"

Murdock shot her a grin. "No, I really had to drop off that stuff."

"Does Hannibal know about you and Face?"

"He used to worry that someone would find out and we'd be in worse trouble," Murdock said quietly. "Made us swear to be discreet."

"So how long have you been together?"

"Six months, this time. It's been more — how I can I put this — scattered before that."

"Scattered because you had to be discreet?"

Murdock nodded.

"But if you guys haven't been a team for a year, and you've been together for the last half of that, why didn't Face say anything to me?"

"Well, for one thing, Face tends to think we still have to be discreet." Murdock blew out a breath. "Annoys the hell of out of me more than it should, sometimes, even when I know he's doing it partly out of habit and partly to protect us both. The second reason is because he didn't want to scare you off," Murdock said gently. "Would you have believed him, given how he's made nearly a career out of being a playboy? Come on, Amy, from what he told me, you were pretty shocked as it was."

Reluctantly, Amy chuckled. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not shocked about that anymore." She paused as a thought occurred to her. "But if you're involved with each other, why do you want me? Is it because you want a baby?"

"Is there some reason you can't believe we'd just want you because we find you attractive?" Murdock countered, annoyed.

"Come on, Murdock. Even for you two, this is as left field as it can get. Most relationships I know don't invite other people into them."

"Most relationships aren't the one I have with Face," Murdock replied.

"Then why?" Amy was confused.

Murdock looked at her. "How about every time I saw you kiss Face, back when you were helping him pull his cons, I kept wishing I had that pleasure? When I figured out you were back in LA, I knew I had a second chance to make that wish into a reality."

"That's all?" Amy couldn't believe it was that simple.

He shrugged. "Well, I'd be lying if I didn't admit to wanting kids, but that's not the reason I want to be with you."

Amy's head was spinning. "But you had to convince Face—"

"It didn't take all that much, querida," Murdock assured her. "He's always been interested in you; it simply wasn't something that we could deal with at the time. We talked more about whether or not our relationship could handle another person in it. Especially if that person was you — it's a lot harder to kiss a friend than it is a stranger."

She chuckled softly at that truth. "I'm sure it'll get easier with practice," she surprised herself by saying.

He grinned. "Want to try some more?" He started to lean over.

"Murdock —" Amy began warningly, even as a frisson of desire shot through her at the thought.

He laughed. "Don't worry, querida, I've got myself under control." He paused. "Mostly."

Wisely, Amy decided not to touch that statement. "You mentioned it's only been six months since you and Face became lovers. If you don't mind me being nosy, what happened before that?"

"You're a reporter; you're professionally nosy. Besides, you're getting involved with us; that gives you a right to know." He paused and took a deep breath. "The lady Face was involved with fell in love with him. It was right after we'd gotten pardoned, and we were still trying to recover from everything we'd done. She fell pretty hard, and didn't believe him when he said he'd only been looking for a good time. He'd been a little too convincing in his attention."

Amy winced. She was well aware of how convincing Face could be. "What happened?"

"We moved and changed all of our phone numbers so she couldn't stalk him any more. Thankfully she just saw Face's 'Vette as a 'white car', else that might have had to go, too."

"Oh my God," Amy said, horrified. "Tell me you had better luck."

"I thought so, until Face pointed out to me that the woman I was seeing was out of her right mind, and her left, too," Murdock said lightly, but there was a hint of pain in his voice. "I broke it off after four months."

"And found comfort and love in your best friend's arms?" Amy teased deliberately; wanting to erase the heartache she heard in his voice and saw on his face.

Murdock shot her a grin. "Something like that, yes. Are you okay with this, querida?"

"Yes." She marveled at her lack of hesitation, but she marveled more at how her desire to still date Face and Murdock hadn't faded.

"No desire to have a fit of screaming heebee jeebees?" Murdock prodded. "Perhaps with a side of homophobic slurs?"

Annoyed at his wording, aware he was deliberately provoking her, Amy snapped, "Only if you keep asking me if I'm okay with knowing the two guys I'm dating are a hell of lot closer than just friends. I still want to kiss you both, okay? And no matter how this crazy idea of yours turns out, I'm still going to be your friend." She reached over to grasp his hand.

He kissed the back of her hand, but said only, "Much as I hate to get out of the sky, we need to head back, since our rental time's almost up."

Amy said nothing as he turned the plane around and proceeded to land. She wasn't sure what to say that didn't come out sounding defensive and so let her anger cool as she processed his reasons for doing it. Somewhere, somewhen, someone had done exactly as Murdock had described, and hurt him for it.

Once out of the plane and away from the tarmac, he led Amy to a shadowed alcove on one side of the airfield's administrative building/tower where no one would be likely to see or overhear them.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I had to know."

"I know," she said, her voice tight at the thought of the pain that had to have motivated the question. "I'm a lot of things, Murdock, but a closed-minded bigot isn't one of them. If I was, you wouldn't have made your offer to me. How'd Face put it? Oh, yeah, if I was anyone else, we'd already be having sex. But in case you want proof —"

Amy kissed him deeply, lingering, savoring every moment, every nuance of this new-found desire. She wanted to prove to him that she still wanted him, still wanted this nebulous thing that was developing between them.

He held her close as he kissed her back, deepening the kiss even further as he sent new spirals of pleasure through her. She'd known a man could turn her on with a kiss, but she'd never had anything with this much heat, this much wicked delight, this much need to give as much as she got. If she'd ever wondered if she was attracted to Murdock this way, she knew she'd more than gotten confirmation.

When he finally stepped back, she was quivering from pleasure and breathing heavily. He looked at her hungrily. His breathing was just a shade ragged. "I'd better take you home, querida, before I do something you're not ready for," he declared.

Not trusting her voice, Amy nodded agreement.

She wasn't too surprised when Face called her that evening.

"Did you like your flight?" he asked her once the initial pleasantries had been exchanged.

"A lot better than the last time Murdock flew something I was in," she admitted.

"When was that?"

"That was the time we stole that charter plane off the tarmac in Arizona, remember, and found out it was carrying a ton of drugs, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, that one," he said cheerfully. "Hey, at least all that got off the street." She could almost see his satisfaction at the way that had turned out.

She shook her head. Getting shot at by drug runners hadn't been in the plan that day. "Murdock mentioned you were out looking at real estate. Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Not unless I want to spend the next three months of my life overseeing a renovation," he told her honestly. "I was hoping for something I could buy to turn right into a rental, but everything I saw needs more than I want to put into it."

"So what are you going to do instead?"

"How does you, me, and two weeks in the French Riviera sound?"

Amy laughed. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Nah, Murdock hates the French Riviera," Face deadpanned. "He claims it's overrated. And I'm sure I could convince your boss you need a vacation."

"Oh, no you don t," Amy warned.

He chuckled. "I won't," and she heard the 'yet' implied in his voice. "But I wanted to apologize for not telling you about —"

"Murdock explained it to me," Amy interrupted. "You thought I'd be shocked and angry, didn't you?"

Silence filled the line. "You always accepted everything we threw at you without too many questions, Amy," he said finally. "You slid right into the cons I set up as if you'd been doing it all of your life — which we both know you didn't. Sometimes I wondered if you didn't freak out in private, when none of us were around to see it."

Face's perception stung. "I'm not freaking out now," Amy pointed out as calmly as she could. "If anything, I'm caught between wondering if you're ashamed of your relationship with Murdock or if you just didn't trust me. If it's the latter, then maybe we ought to lay down some ground rules."

"I do trust you, Amy," Face said, sounding annoyed at the accusation. "It's just old habits are hard to break."

"Rules, you mean," Amy corrected. "You told me once you'd break any habit, but there were some rules you wouldn't break. What kind of rules were you living under when you were working for the general that a year later, you find it hard to break them?" Amy wondered.

"The same rules I've been living under for two decades," came the quiet reply. "Hannibal's. Except when we worked for the general, they were a hell of a lot stricter. We were under surveillance all the time; couldn't leave the compound without permission, and if we did, there would be people to bring us back — dead or alive. In my head, Amy, I'm still expecting someone to come up and use my relationship with Murdock to force me to do something I would rather not do."

Amy swallowed hard at the image Face's words painted. "Has anyone told lately you you're paranoid and that they're not out to get you anymore?" she asked gently.

He laughed humorlessly. "Yeah. I'm sorry, Amy. I'm not ashamed to be in love with Murdock. I didn't mean to imply that I was. So I'll ask you again, since you've had some time to think about it, do you still want to see us?"

"As long as you promise not to hide any other secrets like that from me," Amy answered steadily. "I'm not talking about the stuff that you can't tell me that's been classified six ways to Sunday — that's something else entirely."

"I promise," Face vowed. "I know it's late, so dinner tonight's out of the question, but would you like to join us for dessert? There's a little cafe I know that does the best Nanaimo bars."

Amy groaned. "You would remember I like those," she said, and heard his amused chuckle. "I can't," she apologized, feeling a pang of regret. "If I have any sugar now, I won't be able to get to sleep tonight, and I have plans early tomorrow." She paused, then said, "If you and Murdock are free Wednesday night, we can have dinner together."

"We can do that," Face agreed. "Would you like me to pick you up from work?"

She smiled. "I'd like that. See you around 5:30, then?"

"We'll be there," Face promised. "Sleep well, Amy."

"You too."


	2. Chapter 2

"Either you're working late, or you have a hot date tonight," Robyn said as she walked up to Amy's desk. "Given that I can tell you fixed your hair and makeup, I vote for the hot date."

"Don't you have some place to be? Tai chi class?" Amy said pointedly.

"Yes, but you haven't told me about your date," her friend insisted. "Not even a name."

Amy sighed and gave up on working. "The Easter Bunny," she said.

"Easter was earlier this month, so don't give me that," Robyn shot back. "I can wait until your date shows up."

"The guys who sent me flowers are taking me out," Amy conceded. She deliberately made it sound ordinary, though inside she was bursting with anticipation.

"And you aren't excited?"

"Not really," Amy said blandly, knowing it would drive Robyn crazy. "They haven't changed that much since the last time I saw them."

Robyn stared at her. "But you fixed your hair and your makeup," she said helplessly, as if that alone was significant.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Would you meet two handsome guys looking like you worked all day, even if they've seen you in worse shape?"

The other woman chuckled. "I suppose not. Just friends having dinner, huh?"

"Yes. Now go flirt with the guys in your tai-chi class. Maybe one of them will take you out and you'll feel better."

Robyn sighed theatrically. "Fine. I'll see you tomorrow. Enjoy your not-date."

Amy waited until Robyn was out of earshot before she let herself giggle. She was still chuckling when Murdock and Face walked up.

"Good joke?" Face asked.

"Something like it," Amy admitted as she grabbed her purse and stepped around the desk and into Face's arms.

Not surprised by the move, Amy accepted the kiss he offered. Kissing him didn't give her the same thrill as kissing Murdock, but it was sweet, familiar, and still gave her a jolt to know there was nothing holding either of them back.

Then it was Murdock's turn to kiss her. To her surprise, he kept the kiss brief, yet heat still shot through her. "Don't want to start something I can't stop," he said with a smile before he pulled back. "Ready to go?"

"Ready," Amy confirmed.

"Do you have a preference for dinner?" Face asked as they made their way out to the elevator.

"Didn't make reservations?" Amy asked in surprise.

"Thought we'd be a little more casual tonight," Face answered.

"Besides, we picked last time," Murdock put in, "so it's your turn."

Amy thought for a minute. "How about Mamasita? I could go for something spicy."

"That the place over on Sunset?" Murdock asked.

"Yes," Amy replied, nodding as the elevator arrived and they entered it. Four other people were all ready in the elevator.

Murdock grinned. "They make the best tacos in town."

Face shook his head as he checked the button for the ground floor, which was already lit. "You'd live on tacos if I let you," he remarked.

"What's wrong with that? I cook, therefore I should have tacos occasionally," Murdock asked with a grin as he stepped closer towards his lover — close enough, Amy noticed, that they could touch without being hassled for it. She hid a smile even as she wondered just how much practice they'd gotten at that particular trick.

"Occasionally," Face pointed dryly, "means you get into this streaks where that's all you want." Yet the look he shot Murdock was full of exasperated affection.

Amy chuckled. "I never knew you cooked, Murdock."

"Took it up as a distraction when we got out of Virginia, went to a couple of classes," he informed her. "Discovered I like it."

"I still refuse to buy you a chef's hat," Face stated firmly. "And don't think you can charm Amy into doing it, either."

"You're no fun," Murdock pouted. Turning to Amy, he said, "What do you say, we ditch this guy and head off to Vegas? We won't even need a ticket."

She laughed. "Won't you miss him?"

Murdock appeared to consider the question. "True. He's horrible at keeping Billy."

"I am not!" Face protested. "You swore you'd given him up!"

The elevator pinged for their floor and they exited with everyone else. "Hmm," Murdock said thoughtfully as they quickly crossed the lobby to the visitor parking lot. "I don't know; that's not nearly enough reason, Amy. You sure I'll miss him?"

"Well, I missed you when you were gone," Amy said honestly. "Besides, how would you do without someone you've known for what, two decades or so?"

"So you won't run away with me?" Murdock said, wide-eyed and shocked. "But, Amy, you swept me off my feet! I must have you!" He pressed a hand to his heart.

"But I'm already with you," Amy pointed out, amused, even as she felt a little thrill at his words. "And from the way I hear it, he's got your heart, so I'd be inclined to make sure you didn't rip it out from him."

Murdock stopped at the edge of his car. "Details, details," he scoffed.

Face shook his head. "You're just angling to be kissed, that's all."

"Oh?" Murdock said, unlocking the doors. "Afraid to kiss me in front of Amy?"

"No, you crazy idiot," Face said, irritation and love and lust making his tone rough, "just preferring to kiss you somewhere more private, where if she wants to, she can help. Have you forgotten we're standing in front of Amy's workplace?"

Heat surged through Amy at that statement, and she saw an answering flush creep up Murdock's neck. He swallowed hard. "Right, then," he said brightly.

Face chuckled dryly, but when Amy looked at him, she read desire in his eyes. She drew in a breath, let it go and let herself be helped into the front passenger seat of the car.

Dinner went by in a blur of spicy Mexican food, drinks, and conversation; though Amy knew she'd be hard-pressed to remember what they'd talked about afterwards. What stayed with her more was how easy it felt to be with them; she'd had far more nerve-wracking dates than this.

Murdock flirted shamelessly with her and Face. Freed from the need to hide his relationship with Murdock, Face was equally flirtatious, though not as over-the-top as his lover. In a hundred small ways, they showed her their love for each other subtly but concretely, and she wondered how blind she'd been not to notice it before for what it was. She didn't feel excluded, either, and she started to see just how easy being with them could be.

By the time they walked her to the door of her condo, she wished the night wouldn't end. She didn't want to stop being with them. Instinctively, she knew if she gave in to that desire, she wouldn't be going to bed alone. It was too soon for that. She nearly reconsidered when they kissed her goodnight on her doorstep and left her breathless.

With a very smug grin, Murdock gently nudged her into her condo. "Another time, querida," he promised her.

"Sweet dreams, Amy," Face added.

Somehow, she found her voice. "Good night," she told them, and watched as Face pulled the door shut.

Shuddering, she took a deep breath. A cold shower was definitely in order before bed, she decided.

Friday, the following week

Amy had a killer headache. As Murphy's Law would have it, the week had turned into the kind of week that would drive any sane person to drink. Between the two urgent write-ups she'd had to do, the rejection of a few stories she'd been really advocating doing, and her boss' complete lack of sympathy for her desire to get out of consumer news, all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and forget the world existed. To make matters worse, her computer had been removed for repair after a decree had come down to remove all typewriters from non-secretarial personnel. The tech who'd come to remove her computer had told her she'd have a new one on Monday, but it meant she'd had to switch desks so she could finish the supposedly urgent report.

Relieved to finally get that task finished, she headed back to her desk, intent on getting her purse and heading home when she saw Murdock leaning against her desk, playing with her stapler as if it was a puppet. He set back down on her desk when he saw her.

"Please tell me you were swept away by Superman," he said, not quite pleading.

"No, sorry, he's still hung up on Lois," Amy replied, confused. She didn't quite understand the worry she saw in Murdock's face. "Why?"

"You didn't answer your phone. I called and called, and your line went ring-a-dingy, but no one picked up. I called your house and all I got was your answering machine."

"Oh." Suddenly, she remembered how the team did periodic checks on each other, and how an unexpected loss of contact would mean alarm. "The voicemail system's been having problems all day. Did I forget we had plans tonight?"

Murdock nodded. "You told Face that since you couldn't go to lunch on Tuesday, you'd see us tonight instead? When we couldn't get a hold of you, he went to your house and I came here to make sure you're okay."

She glanced at her watch, saw it was two hours past the time she should have been at their house, and groaned. "Oh, God, Murdock, I'm sorry. I'm not really good company, though. Can we make it another night?"

He studied her a moment. "Bad day?"

She blew out a breath. "Bad week," she said apologetically.

"Oh, pobrecita," Murdock said softly. "You look like you need a hug."

She went willingly into his arms and took the simple comfort he offered. When he tilted her head up for a kiss, she didn't pull away, but parted her lips and met him halfway. For a minute, she let herself get lost in desire.

Murdock ended the kiss gently and with an apologetic smile. "If we don't get going soon, Face is going to worry about us both," he told her. "Come on; let me take you home to our place."

"I really think I should—" she started to protest.

He laid a finger over her lips. "Let us make up for a bad week, okay? I made pot roast, and Face picked out a really nice wine to go with it."

For a moment, Amy resisted, but the compassion in Murdock's face undid her. "I can't think of the last time I had homemade pot roast." If she was honest with herself, she knew she didn't want to be alone tonight.

He smiled, taking her words for the agreement they were. Within a few minutes, they were in his car, which looked like it had been repaired since the last time she'd been in it.

"No duct tape?" she teased him.

"Finally had a chance to drop it off to BA," Murdock said with a grin, patting the dashboard. "Got it back yesterday."

Murdock headed northeast out of the parking lot, towards the house he shared with Face instead west to her condo. As he drove, he picked up the car phone and dialed. Tucking the receiver under his ear, he said, "Hey, Face, it's me. Amy was just working late and lost track of time. Yeah, we'll meet you at home. Don't get any speeding tickets getting home, all right?" He laughed at something Face said and hung up.

"You shouldn't have worried," Amy said quietly.

Murdock shrugged as he took the onramp to the freeway. "Would you rather I didn't care?" he asked quietly.

"No, it's just — it wasn't like something happened to me."

"Maybe not this time," he returned, reaching across the center console to grasp her hand, "but I'd rather worry needlessly than have a reason. Besides, you're my girlfriend. I'm supposed to worry about you."

Amy couldn't argue with that statement. Murdock flipped on the radio, tuning it to a jazz station, and she sat back to let the music unwind her as he drove to his home.

In the fading evening light, the large two-story house had the look of something that had been around for a good forty years. It sat on a corner lot surrounded by woodland, tucked back from the street smack in the middle of a new development. As they pulled into the garage, Amy noted that it was big enough to fit both Murdock's car and Face's 'vette as well as a large chest freezer. Murdock led her through a small mudroom to a short hallway. While she waited for him to make sure he'd locked the door to the garage, she looked around.

A half bath was positioned immediately to her right; a closet stood opposite it. Directly in front of her was a large living room; just around the corner from the closet she could see the stairs leading to the second floor. To her right, she saw the front door and another room that looked like it was being used as a game room, judging from the pool table and pinball machine she could see through the French doors closing in the room. Beyond the living room and down the hallway from the staircase, she could see a four-person dining table set for three; beyond it was the screen door leading out to a deck.

"I'll give you the grand tour later," Murdock promised. "But to answer the usual questions: four bedrooms, two and a half baths, about three thousand square feet, and I have no idea how Face found this place either. I don't want to know, either." He grinned and gestured to his left. "Come on, the kitchen's this way."

The dining room was bordered on its right by the kitchen, which looked like it had undergone a complete modernization; the stainless steel appliances and stone countertops still looked new. To the left of the dining room was a closed door. Before she could wonder what it led to, she was distracted by the sight of Face as he pulled the roast onto a platter.

His eyes lit up when he saw her. He put down the utensils he'd used to pull the roast out of a roasting pan on the counter and stepped forward to kiss her thoroughly.

"I'm glad you're here," he told her before kissing Murdock as well.

Amy watched them kiss. For a moment, she felt as though the rest of the world ceased to exist. Abruptly, she was aware that this was her real test — she'd watched them flirt and hold hands and be generally discreet about their relationship, but not kiss. Watching them kiss now made her wish she was a part of the love they had, and she was suddenly afraid she wasn't good enough to share in it like they wanted. Then Murdock stepped back and reality came rushing back in like a tidal wave.

Somehow, it hadn't quite sunk in until that moment that Face and Murdock were lovers, in every sense of that word. Abruptly she realized she had seen them as being in love but somehow not the rest of it. It made her feel extremely na ve.

"How did you manage to beat us here?" Murdock asked Face. "You had twice as far to go than we did."

Face grinned. "I was already almost to the station when you called," he told Murdock. "I just hit the freeway and cruised here. Got here about fifteen minutes ago; enough time to heat everything back up."

Turning to Amy, Face asked, "Want anything to drink? Water, soda, wine, beer?"

Amy watched as Murdock scooped vegetables out of the pot and onto a platter, feeling oddly disconcerted by the domestic scene. Of all the things she knew Face and Murdock were capable of doing, this definitely ranked low on the list. She'd known the team could cook to various degrees, but this was beyond what she'd seen them do. Why it surprised her so, she wasn't sure; she'd known they were capable of anything they set their minds to do.

"Wine first, then some water," Amy agreed, grateful for the question to distract her from her thoughts. "If you bought it to go with this dinner, then I'd hate your effort to go to waste."

Face smiled and went to retrieve a corkscrew from a drawer near the refrigerator and the wine while Murdock moved the platter to the table.

"Anything I can do?" Amy asked.

"Have a seat," Murdock invited as he went to fill glasses with water. "We've got it under control."

Soon, the drinks were on the table, the men were seated, and plates were filled with food.

"You left your bathroom light on," Face remarked to Amy after they'd begun eating.

She stared at him. "I'm not sure whether to thank you or be mad you broke into my condo." She sighed. "Were you that worried about me?"

"You're pretty good about calling if you're running late," he said simply.

"If I'd remembered we were having a date, I would have called." She offered him an apologetic smile. "Sorry. So should I be worried that you were able to get in?"

Face smiled. "I'll call a locksmith tomorrow for you, if you like, and have him replace your locks with better ones." Apologetically, he added, "They generally don't install good ones in a condo complex like yours."

"I wondered if you'd say that; I've been meaning to replace them."

"If it makes you feel any better, Amy," Murdock interjected, "he says that about most locks he's able to pick."

Amy turned that idea over as she ate more of her dinner. "I'm not sure if that does, but I'll take it as a comfort anyway. I thought you weren't doing those kinds of things anymore."

"Well, no, but I figured this counted as an emergency exception," Face replied. "I think you'd agree it was preferable to me breaking down the door."

"True," she conceded. "I just got a little swamped at work. I should probably get you a key so you don't have to do that again."

"He'd pick it anyway just for the practice," Murdock pointed out with a smile, and chuckled when Face shot him a glare. "What? You know you will, so don't give me that."

"Speaking of your work, when I called you on Tuesday to go to lunch," Face said, changing the subject, "you were working on a tip from the hotline for a story. You didn't want to tell me what it was because you were afraid to jinx it. Did you get it approved?"

Amy shook her head. "No, my boss thought the infant cushion recall story took precedence. Sad thing, though."

"Oh?" Murdock said. "What was the tip?"

"Some guy called in and said his daughter had swallowed magnets from one of those travel board games and died. He wanted to be sure we warned other parents. I'd been working on it off and on for a few months now, but this week was the first time I'd gotten to present everything I had on it."

"Died?" Murdock asked incredulously.

Amy nodded. "They got stuck in her small intestine and created a blockage. The father's suing the hospital because they used an MRI on her, which, from what I understand, made things worse. I found out later that he failed to tell the ER staff what his daughter had swallowed, so they ran all sorts of tests on her."

Both men winced. "So your boss doesn't want to give this guy any publicity because it might go to court?" Face asked.

"It would be one thing if this was something I could prove was happening elsewhere, but I talked with the Consumer Product Commission, and my contacts in the medical community, and no one's seeing it as anything widespread. Kids swallow all sorts of things." Amy sounded resigned. "The guy I talk to at County General was telling me about a kid who died because he swallowed his mother's hoop earring."

"That's just awful," Murdock said. "Is that the first time you've been turned down on a story?"

Amy shook her head. "No, I usually pitch five to seven ideas. I consider it a good week if I get three of them approved, and that's not counting all the time I spend gathering all the supporting information. A lot of the story ideas get dictated by what management thinks the public needs to know." She sighed. "This week was not a good week at all."

Face reached across the table to clasp her hand reassuringly. "I'm sorry to hear that. Any other stories in the works?"

Amy grimaced. "Nothing that I don't feel like I haven't already said in the past year, but I got turned down for transferring out of consumer news."

"You put in a transfer?" Murdock looked surprised, putting his fork down. "To what?"

"And when?" Face added.

The alarmed looks on their faces caused Amy to pause. "Back to foreign news," she said carefully. "I submitted the request the same week you showed up in my office."

"And you didn't think it was important to mention it to us?" Murdock sounded hurt.

Amy shrugged. "I didn't see the point in saying anything until I knew one way or the other."

"Are you going to try again?" Face asked.

With a start, Amy realized that they were worried she was leaving them. The realization sent a flash of guilt through her. "My boss made it clear he isn't going to support a transfer. I'd have to either wait until my boss leaves or leave the company."

"Do you really want to go back to reporting the stories you used to tell?" Face looked like he was trying to understand. "I seem to recall you griped about living out of a suitcase."

She chuckled. "I did, didn't I? I just I'm getting bored with trying to make the stuff I think should be common sense interesting. Like 'don't plug in an electrical heater near a bathtub.' They actually issued a national safety bulletin on that, can you believe it? There are days where I feel a bit like a weather girl."

Amused, Face replied, "Oh, but you're much prettier and smarter than a weather girl."

Amy shook her head. "I'm not even going to ask how you'd know, because I'm sure the answer is you knew one."

"It is, trust me," Murdock put in. "But reporting consumer news seems a heck of a lot safer than trying to report international news. Didn't you say you were shot at in Hong Kong?"

Amy grinned. "Well, you guys did teach me how to duck and run."

"I hope we taught you more than that," Face said warningly. "I saw the stories you covered after we lost contact with you. Were you trying to win prizes for being on the front lines?'

Amy flushed at the accusation. "No. I just went where the stories were. And besides, the lessons you taught me did come in handy."

"Well, then," Face said, clearly relieved, "that's nice to know, but really, Amy, that's not what we intended."

She shot him a look. "What did you expect me to do with that knowledge? I didn't see the point in letting it go to waste. All I could do long-distance was research, and I felt guilty I couldn't do more. If it wasn't for Hannibal reminding me that I had to stay out of the country unless I wanted to be arrested, you know I would've shown up more to help you."

"Decker made sure you were listed as a member of the Team," Murdock reminded her. "He kept going on and on about it when he visited me at the VA. If he hadn't, we wouldn't have known he'd put out the word that he wanted you detained for questioning the moment you came back into the country."

Amy rolled her eyes. "I still would love to strangle Decker for that. Did you know I had to stand in an US Embassy Immigration Office and explain that a paranoid colonel thought I knew where the A-Team was? I said I did you were dead." Anger flashed at the memory. "Would you believe I had to stand there and wait for them to call Decker so I could explain to him that you were dead, and he'd missed the memo?"

Face chuckled. "I bet he hated hearing that."

Amy nodded, a smile lighting her face. "Oh, most definitely. He accused me of planting the story to get the heat off you. I said I would never report on the death of the A-Team, and if he'd read it in the paper without my byline, then he had to know was true. It was amazing just how quickly I was allowed back into the US after that."

She looked at both men. "It's nice to know I fooled him again. I never did like him."

Murdock grinned. "Feeling's mutual, querida. He used to bug me every chance he got, trying to see where I'd crack and let him know where the rest of the team was."

For the next several minutes, conversation faded to silence as they concentrated on finishing their meal.

"Why did you leave the LA Courier?" Murdock asked suddenly as they cleared the table a several minutes later.

Amy busied herself with rinsing her plate. "I didn't duck fast enough," she said lightly, using the excuse of putting the plate in the dishwasher to avoid meeting their eyes.

"Amy " Murdock's hands gently turned her to face him. He kissed her tenderly before asking, "How bad?"

She tried to smile as she felt Face behind her, his hands rubbing her shoulders. "Bullet went through my right shoulder." She took a deep breath. "Near as anyone can figure, they weren't aiming for me, but the guy I was interviewing."

Face dropped a kiss on that shoulder. The gesture made Amy's heart ache; made her wish they'd been there for the months of recovery she'd spent alone. "What were you doing there in the first place?"

Now the smile came more easily. "Courting danger," she said, chuckling. "I didn't mind the shooting as much as I minded being told that I'd overextended my medical leave and they weren't going to hold my position open for me anymore."

She paused, her hands reaching up to caress Face's hands as they rested on her upper arms. "I was seeing someone then. He he didn't handle me being shot well."

"I don't think I'd handle you getting hurt like that well," Murdock remarked.

"Yes, but that time I got hurt in Oregon on a mission, you were making jokes, hiding the fact you hated what happened," Amy shot back. "You taught me how to deal with getting injured and still go on."

"Did we forget to teach you only guys like us can deal with that sort of thing?" Face asked gently, turning her around to face him. "And even then we're whistling in a graveyard."

"I knew that, but Philip was strong in so many other ways. I guess I thought maybe he could." Amy sighed. "Anyway, I knew a guy who worked for Channel 11, and he helped get me this position."

"Do you regret leaving the Courier?" Murdock wondered as he stepped away from Amy to put the leftover pot roast in the fridge. Face took that as his cue to finish putting the rest of the dishes in the dishwasher.

"Not really," Amy replied. "I just wish my boss now didn't see consumer news as being this vital service to the public, and I should not only support the choir, but preach the gospel, too."

"Oh, one of those?" Face asked with a smile as he led the way into the living room, where an overstuffed green couch took center stage, flanked by a pair of pale brown leather chairs.

"He's a good guy, just " She sighed. "Hard to get passionate about some of the stuff we do over and over."

She sat down between Face and Murdock. "Go ahead, lay down," Murdock suggested.

"Hold on, let me get my shoes off," she said.

"Don't worry about it," Face replied, "I'll get them off for you." He waited until her head was settled in Murdock's lap, then swung her feet up and easily removed her high heels, dropping them on the floor. He then began rubbing her feet.

"Oh, God, I wish I'd known you could do this," Amy murmured in pleasure.

He chuckled, pleased with her response as he continued to massage her feet with expert strokes. "Well, now you know."

"Remember when BA bet Amy couldn't run a mile in high heels in less than seven minutes?" Murdock said.

Amy laughed. "Yeah, and then Hannibal said if I could do that, you better all not be behind me." She looked at Face. "You were running deliberately slow, weren't you?"

Face grinned, unrepentant. "Someone had to make sure that if you tripped, someone would be there to catch you."

"And the fact you were enjoying the rear view was a mere side effect?" Amy asked dryly.

Face's grin widened. "Of course," he said. "Made you run faster, too, didn't it?"

"And avoid you like the plague afterwards," Murdock observed. "How long did your ankles hurt, querida?"

Amy groaned. "Too long," she remembered. "And I'd practiced, too, just in case that came up. That Chinese herbal stuff you gave me worked, though."

"You should've said something," Face admonished her.

Amy chuckled, remembering. "I wasn't talking to you then, remember? Besides, I wasn't sure if you'd take that to mean I forgave you for checking me out."

"She's got you there, Face," Murdock said. "And let's face it, you would have."

"Ignore him," Face suggested to Amy. "He thinks I should apologize for thinking you've always been beautiful."

"Well, that may be," she replied, amused, "but I don't think I'd want anyone to apologize for thinking that."

Murdock considered this a moment and frowned. "Does that mean you like him better than you do me?"

Amy laughed. "No, silly. But I might add a point in your favor if you were to kiss me."

"Nah," Murdock immediately replied. "I wouldn't want to be accused of being easily bribed."

Shaking her head, Amy sat up and glanced at her watch. "As much as I'd like to keep up this merry mayhem, it's late and I'm tired. I assume neither of you wants to drive me back?"

"Not really," Murdock answered slowly. "Face?"

"No," he replied. "Stay, Amy, please. I'll take you back in the morning, but unless you have something going on first thing tomorrow, we'd love to have breakfast with you. Murdock's been experimenting with Belgian waffles."

Amy's eyes narrowed suspiciously, then she laughed. "Okay, okay, you are trying to seduce me through my stomach."

"Is it working?" Murdock asked hopefully.

She didn't dignify that with an answer. "So where am I sleeping tonight, and can I borrow a shirt to sleep in?"

Murdock and Face looked at each other.

"Sure you don't want someone to hold you while you sleep?" Face asked.

She considered the offer as apprehension snaked through her. She knew all too well how quickly such a situation could turn into something more. "Just holding, no pressure for anything else?"

"I'll do it," Murdock offered quickly. "Put him in bed with you, and he'll want more."

"Oh, and you won't?" Amy asked archly, ignoring the frisson of fear that he would. For a moment, her mind was congested with doubt.

Murdock grinned. "Not tonight," he admitted. "The planets are not aligned," he added, donning a haughty air.

She burst into laughter, suddenly aware that he was deliberately acting crazy to lighten the mood. "All right. Which way to the guest room?"

"Upstairs on the right; the office's the room at that far end of the hall," Face answered. "Let me go up and grab you a shirt. Did you want to shower before bed?"

"I was planning on it," Amy agreed, grateful for the excuse to delay.

"The bathroom in the hall's the closest to the guest room and should have everything. Give me five minutes to put the shirt on the back of the door."

Not waiting for her agreement, he headed upstairs.

Murdock took advantage of their privacy to kiss her slowly, savoring the contact. For a moment, Amy was tempted to take the kiss farther and give in the desire that been simmering over a steady flame for the last several weeks. She told herself the time wasn't right; that she wasn't ready; that he'd always pushed for more and this was nothing to be afraid of. Still, the kiss lingered long past their usual length of contact. She was a little unsteady and light-headed when she stepped back.

Desire was reflected in Murdock's expression. He shook his head ruefully. "You'd better head on up, querida, and take that shower before I decide I need to scrub your back, too."

"Maybe some other time," she compromised.

He smiled. "Let me walk you up."

She found Face waiting for them just off to the right of the top of the stairs, blocking her path to the guest bedroom.

"Any chance I get to see you in my shirt before you go to bed?" he asked hopefully as she stepped closer.

"Maybe," she teased him. "Maybe I'll make you wait." She moved to step around him.

"Don't make me wait too long," he said warningly, grabbing her to press a devastatingly intense but swift kiss on her lips. Desire surged within her, a now-familiar flashpoint of fire, and suddenly she wanted nothing else than to keep kissing him.

As if that had been his cue, Murdock stepped up behind her to kiss and caress her neck, her shoulders as well as any part of her body he could reach through and under her clothes.

She moaned. The sound made both men lift their heads and pause.

Face looked at her as her heart fluttered wildly in her breast.

"I don't want to stop at kissing you," Face warned, his hands on the buttons of the shirt she wore, his voice low in his throat. "I'm sure Murdock doesn't want to, either. Amy, let us love you."

"Please, Amy," Murdock added coaxingly. "We care about you, and we want you so much."

Amy closed her eyes. If she told them to stop now, they would. Yet in that instant she knew she couldn't deny her own lust for them any longer.

"Yes, please," Amy decided, opening her eyes. "God, I want you both."

Both men smiled, then they all moved to the master bedroom. In between slow, lingering kisses, Face and Murdock took turns helping her undress before they paused to strip off their own clothing.

Amy soon stood between them, scared in a way she'd never been about sex.

Reading her apprehension in her body language, Face asked, "Having second thoughts?"

"And thirds, and fourths," she confessed. "I've never felt like this before."

"Like what?" Murdock asked.

"Terrified and turned on so much I can't think," Amy told them.

"So don't think," Face suggested. "We only want to give you pleasure, Amy. If there's something you don't want, just say so and we won't do it."

"Promise?" Amy asked nervously as Murdock leaned in again to kiss and nibble her neck and shoulder from behind. His hands came to rest on her waist. Her breath hitched and she trembled at the simple contact. She couldn't believe this was happening, couldn't believe she was so turned on and they hadn't done more than kiss her.

"Promise," Face said firmly, locking his gaze with hers. Her breath caught as she read the desire there.

Slowly and seductively, his gaze slid downward, the look as intimate as a caress. She shivered as if he had touched her. "You're so beautiful, Amy. Kissing you just makes me crave you more. Watching you kiss Murdock just makes it worse. I love the way you look now, with him holding you like that. Do you like the way he's touching you?"

Murdock now cupped her breasts from behind and was rubbing the nipples gently as he licked and kissed a path up from her right shoulder up to her neck. His body was pressed up against hers, a warm, insistent heat against her skin. Caught in a wave of sensation, Amy moaned and let her head tilt back. She wanted Murdock's mouth, wanted to kiss him. He responded to her silent demand, moving his mouth over hers, devouring its softness. For a moment, she forgot all about Face, forgot everything but the way Murdock was kissing and caressing her.

"My turn," Face announced simply, and Murdock let her mouth go. She whimpered at the loss of contact, but quickly forgot what she was complaining about as Face kissed her. She soon succumbed to the forceful domination of his lips as the fire of passion he and Murdock were igniting in her grew higher. Her fear quickly vanished and turned into anticipation and need.

She wasn't sure she could stand; her knees were weak. She didn't know what to do with her hands, and settled for one hand on Face, another on Murdock. They steadied her as she trembled with every touch, every caress, every kiss, before finally moving over to the bed. It felt as though their hands were everywhere, and she couldn't get enough of the way each man felt against her body. She couldn't touch them enough; didn't have enough hands to give them the attention she felt each of them deserved, yet they didn't seem to mind.

They were gentle, considerate, but demanding lovers, giving her the opportunity to explore each of them in turn. They insisted that they give her pleasure first, that this first time was for her, and she could worry about reciprocating in kind later. It felt like she was being introduced anew to sexual pleasure, so sure were they in demonstrating that she was desired, wanted, adored. Her head was spinning with the attention they paid her, with the need pounding through her blood. In this moment, in this circle of flame they'd built, she was mesmerized by the intensity of her own desires.

Ignoring their insistence on her pleasure, for she wanted to give back what they gave her, she did her best to touch and taste and kiss both of them as equally as she could. She was rewarded for her efforts in sharp inhales of breath, in sudden exclamations of her name, and felt a very womanly kind of satisfaction. And still the flame of passion rose higher, like a wildfire on a prairie. Instead of running from that fire she found herself tumbling towards it, throwing even more fuel on it with every new touch, every shared caress, every kiss, every sigh.

Her thoughts fragmented as their hands and lips continued to explore her body, learning her, touching her simultaneously until her world narrowed down to that pleasure center between her legs and the hands stroking the fire there. She looked down to see both men's hands on her most intimate place, and closed her eyes as they took her to the knife-point of pleasure and sent her flying over it.

She lay on her side in Murdock's arms when Face eased into her. For a second, she wondered when he'd managed to slip on a condom, and then he was all the way inside her. The thought was forgotten as the need to feel him deeper inside grew. Her breath caught at the intense desire she saw in his face, moaned when she watched him lean over and give Murdock a lust-filled kiss over her shoulder. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to let Murdock prepare her, open her up so she could feel him inside her as well. He took a moment to put on a condom before he carefully eased into that tighter rear passage.

Amy felt like she was going to explode with the passion she felt in that instant; it was nearly too much, she was going to fall over with this much pleasure. Both men rocked gently, keeping her still even as she tried to meet their thrusts, breathless and wanting as much as they would give her. It took them a moment longer to find a tempo that worked for all of them.

She'd never known pleasure could be like this, never known that she could share in love like this, and she wasn't sure she could ever want anything less again. This was a heady rapture, feeling them inside her at once. She could feel the love they shared wrap around her, grounding the shared lust even as it became stronger. Everything she was experiencing fed into her own bliss until she was nearly blind with the need for release and still the wildfire inside her hungered for more.

She was drowning in a floodtide of sensation and sound, caught on a wave of pleasure that she didn't want to end. She felt Face thrust one more time into her, crying out her name as he shuddered through his orgasm. A heartbeat later, she heard Murdock grunt as he too came. Hearing them, aware of what they'd just done, she crested over the peak of desire, and exploded in a downpour of fiery sensation.

Lying there, trying to regain the breath she'd lost, she felt overwhelmed by the passion they'd expended. It was too much to think about, too much to absorb, and she didn't dare speak lest the magic of it all vanished. It seemed silly now to think she'd been afraid to go this far.

Slowly, carefully, Murdock rose, then Face. Both men disappeared into the bathroom for a moment, then they returned to snuggle her close.

"You okay, querida?" Murdock asked quietly.

She laughed softly. "'Okay' would be a mild term for the way I'm feeling right now."

"So no regrets?" Face queried, looking at her.

She met his gaze and then looked over her shoulder at Murdock. "None," she said firmly.

"Good," Face said with a smile.

Tired, content, Amy slid into sleep, only to be woken again by Face's desire for her.

She woke up alone, the covers tucked neatly around her. A glance at the clock on the nightstand on the far side of the bed told her it was past eight o'clock, which meant Face and Murdock had let her sleep in. For a moment, she luxuriated in the knowledge of the previous evening's pleasure even as the memory brought a heated flush to her cheeks.

Amused at herself, she got up and walked to the adjoining bathroom. Her clothes, once abandoned on the floor, were nowhere to be found. Shrugging, she showered and then borrowed one of Face's dress shirts from the huge walk-in closet that formed one corner of the bathroom. It hung huge on her smaller frame, and she debated whether to dig for something to wear under it. She had no doubt they were hoping she'd walk downstairs naked; she knew them well enough to know that. Amy decided the shirt was enough of a compromise and headed out to the staircase. The sound of raised voices made her pause.

" not leaving you, damn it," Face said angrily.

"No?" Murdock asked calmly. "So why did I find you wrapped up in Amy when I woke up this morning?"

Silence, then, "Do I even need to justify that? Did you forget I'm just as attracted to her as you are? Damn it, Murdock, just because I'm not going to publicly demonstrate to you every freaking second of the day that I love you doesn't mean that I'm changing my mind."

Face paused.

"You didn't," came the horrified assessment. "I can't believe you'd use Amy to test me."

"You always went back to women when you done with me."

Hearing that flat statement caused Amy to realize this wasn't the first time they'd gone through this argument or a variation thereof.

"That was different!" Face shouted. "I was doing my damned job!"

"Hannibal never said you had to sleep with all of them."

"Am I supposed to apologize for having a libido?" Face asked incredulously. "Or just the fact you were asleep when I woke up horny and decided to have sex with Amy instead of you? That's it, isn't it? Is there some reason I can't find her attractive enough to want to sleep with her again?"

"You're not supposed to want her more than me."

"Do you honestly think I'd — Oh, hell." The frustrated, resigned, I love you but you're killing me way he said that last word made Amy's heart ache.

For her own part, Amy was as shocked as Face was that Murdock would use her. She could see why, though, which only made her shock worse, somehow. If she'd been the one in love with Face, only to watch him parade a seemingly endless stream of women through his life over the years, regardless of Face's reasons for being interested in them — she wasn't sure if she'd be just as suspicious as Murdock when Face finally settled down. For that, she could almost forgive Murdock.

Yet she couldn't forget the words they'd said. Hearing them made her doubt what had happened the night before, made her doubt everything — and she made herself stop before she could dwell on just who'd taken her where, but the idea had started to germinate anyway. How much deliberation did it take to seduce someone, she wondered? Was she wrong to have thought they'd been honest with her? At least Face hadn't been, if his shock was to be believed — and she didn't think he'd lie to Murdock about something like this.

You knew Murdock could pull a con, a voice whispered in her head. Did you forget?

Lost in thought, it took her a few moments before she recognized the sound she was hearing.

"Oh, God, Face, don't don't tease like that, I'm sorry, oh God I'm sorry, please, please just Ohh."

Heat flushed through her as her mind came up with possible answers as to what was going on, complete with pictures. It dawned on her that unless she wanted to interrupt in some fashion, the best thing to do would be to go back to bed — but they had to have heard her shower, hadn't they? Even in a house this size, she couldn't quite imagine they hadn't heard.

She was stuck. She could pretend she hadn't heard the entire conversation, but she didn't have the excuse of lingering over getting dressed, either. She glanced down at the shirt she'd borrowed and realized that Murdock was probably going to have a fit about whose shirt it was.

Damn it, I'm not going to win this one. The best thing she could do was to wait until the sounds of passion downstairs had subsided; whatever Face was doing to prove his love for Murdock wasn't something she needed to interrupt. She wasn't sure if she could face Murdock at that moment, either. Anger was building inside her — anger that he presumed so much, anger that he would even need proof.

Deliberately, she moved away from the stairs and into the bedroom Face used as his office. She needed an excuse not to go downstairs; exploring the office seemed as good of a reason as any.


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh, there you are," Face said a half hour later. His gaze traveled over Amy's body, curled up in the desk chair as she perused a magazine of real estate listings.

Amused, he noted, "I like the way my shirt looks on you."

"What happened to my clothes?" The words came out a bit more sharply than she'd intended.

"Murdock hid them. He was hoping you'd come downstairs before I did." Face looked at her, considering. "You heard, then."

Amy nodded, having already decided she wasn't going to pretend she'd heard nothing. "Why do you put up with his jealousy?"

Face shrugged. "I've put up with worse."

The way he said 'worse' made Amy ache for the things she hadn't known he'd endured. How many lovers had only seen what he'd been willing to give, had demanded more that he hadn't been willing to give, had caused him to run away? How much pain had he gone through? Whatever the amount was, it was more than Amy could bear. In that instant, Amy started reevaluating the entire situation. She'd said yes to dating them because she'd been curious, but curiosity didn't account for the way she felt. She'd been pleased to discover her lust for them matched theirs for her, but this was the morning after, and it felt like she had forgotten to protect her heart.

She got up, needing to kiss Face in a way she hadn't needed to the second before. He accepted the kiss as if he, too, needed that sort of intimacy. The slow, achingly tender kiss lingered a moment before Face stepped back.

"Come on, Murdock has breakfast waiting."

Amy took a deep breath. "If I come downstairs wearing your shirt, will he be jealous?"

"Only if you don't wear his next time," Face replied, half-jokingly. His smile slipped when he took in Amy's wary expression. "Amy, it's not you. He just needed me to show him I hadn't forgotten him."

"And that fixes everything?" Amy snapped, suddenly feeling like she was in the middle of a badly written soap opera.

"In this case? Yes, it does," Face answered steadily. "Feel free to continue to be mad at him, if you like, but he really does make excellent waffles, and I just made a fresh pot of coffee. Oh, and one other thing, in case you've forgotten: Murdock is crazy, obsessive, and prone to believing in things that aren't there. Being declared sane enough to be released from the VA didn't change that."

Amy nearly laughed at the way he defused her temper. "And that's supposed to make me feel better that he thought to use me as some kind of pop quiz for you?"

"I'd rather it was you," Face said honestly. "I don't have to put together a pretty cover story." He paused.

His posture and facial expression changed subtly, becoming somehow less open even while it conveyed a friend's exasperation. In a very convincing voice, he said, his hands underscoring his words, "I'm sorry — he just gets that way. He's my best friend. He and I served together in 'Nam — well, it did things to his head, you know, and he was in a mental institution for years, but he was eventually certified sane. There are moments, though, when he just cracks and I don't know what possesses him sometimes-"

"Oh, God, stop," Amy said, pained. "I get it, I get it. But you'll understand if this just—" She blew out a breath. "Makes me reconsider a few things."

Face nodded. "I'd wonder if it didn't."

She inhaled deeply, then started for the stairs. "I don't suppose you have any idea where my clothes are?"

"No clue," Face replied, following her. "Did I mention I like the way you look in my shirt?"

Deliberately, Amy stopped. "You did," she said, turning to face him. "And I think it would be wiser if you went downstairs first instead of me."

Face looked at her a moment, sighed, and then moved to do as she suggested.

Murdock was finishing setting the table when they came down the stairs. A platter of waffles sat in the center, along with a bowl of mixed berries and maple syrup. When he saw her, he put down the last plate and moved to kiss her.

She didn't move to meet him halfway, caught in a tangle of emotions. Standing there, she was shocked to discover how much she was willing to forgive him, how much she needed to forgive him.

Her hesitation caused Murdock to stop.

"You overheard?" he asked her. At her nod, he chuckled grimly. "I don't suppose I can plead temporary insanity?"

"I'd believe that more if I didn't feel like you planned to use me from the start of this crazy affair," Amy scoffed as her temper flared.

"I didn't," Murdock shot back. "I swear to you, Amy. I wasn't expecting to feel jealous of you and Face, and it messed me up."

His face was bleak with self-pity. Unable to keep her heart from forgiving him, she took a deep breath. "Last night, you made me feel like I had a special invitation to share in the love you and Face have. If you'd woken me up instead of hiding my clothes, hoping I'd wake before Face, I might still feel like I was seeing something special. Why didn't you?"

"I was too busy jumping to conclusions," he admitted.

"Idiot," she berated him. His wry, self-mocking smile answered her. "I might forgive you if your waffles are worth it."

Hope lit up his face. "Then by all means, have some."

"Or I might just forgive you now," Amy continued as if he hadn't spoken. "I thought I was supposed to be the one freaking out here, not you. I've never done anything like I did last night. For that matter, I've never dated more than one person at a time. And it feels like the best thing that I've never thought I wanted, but now can't imagine being without."

Murdock stood still, taking in her words. Face busied himself with pouring coffee into mugs, but she knew he was listening just the same.

"Next time," she told him as she pulled out a chair at the table, barely managing from jerking it out, and sat down, "wake me up. If it takes physical demonstration for you to believe in someone's love for you, then for God's sake give me the chance to prove it."

She stabbed a pair of waffles off the platter. "Butter?"

"Coming right up," Face said smoothly, hiding a grin.

Murdock looked shell-shocked. "You love me?"

Face handed her the stick of butter. She sliced a pat off, enjoying the way the action felt more than she supposed it should, and dropped it onto her waffles.

"No, I'm in love with some other Texas flyboy who's been certified sane," she snapped, annoyed. The words shocked her; she hadn't realized she felt that way until just then, and had to take a deep breath. To give herself room to adjust to the idea, she added, "Maybe I'm just saying it because I'd rather not spend the rest of the day mad and would like to get back into my own clothes. What do you think?"

"I think," Murdock said carefully, "I'd better not piss you off again, either way."

"Do you want any cream in your coffee?" Face asked, holding a carton of half-and-half.

Amy looked at him, abruptly uncomfortable. He didn't seem bothered by her declaration, and she let out a small sigh of relief. She knew she cared about him, but it wasn't yet the depth of emotion she felt for Murdock. She wasn't sure if it would ever be. Not quite trusting she wouldn't say something she'd regret, she simply nodded her head in response to his question.

Face handed her the carton and then sat down as Murdock made his way to his own seat. "Did you have any plans for the day or did you just want to get back home after breakfast?" Face asked as they began to eat.

"I'm supposed to meet some friends this afternoon for shopping and dinner," she replied. "It's our once-a-month girls' night out. Did you have something in mind?"

"Not really," Face answered. "I just wanted to spend a bit more time with you." He shot her a teasing grin. "Considering you just declared your love for another man, I think I need some reassurance you still want me for my body."

Amy took a sip of coffee, needing the moment to think of a comeback. "Nah," she said finally, "I just want you so you can make my friends jealous."

He sighed dramatically. "Reduced to a prop. I think I'm going to go back to exploring my love of men. Murdock, do you think you could teach me a thing or two about that?"

"Oh, I don't know," Murdock replied, smiling, "I might have to make sure my girlfriend's okay with that. Amy, will it shock you if I taught Face a thing or two about gay sex?"

She feigned horror, knowing it was her cue even as she took comfort from their teasing. "You're gay? Oh my God, Murdock, how could you fool me like that?"

"Really, darling, it's just this one time " he began, but they couldn't look at each other before they started laughing.

After breakfast, Face shooed them out of the kitchen. "Go get Amy's clothes," he told Murdock. "I'll handle the dishes."

"I put them in my room," Murdock said, leading her through the door off the dining room, which turned out to be a bedroom furnished as if he still lived in it.

"You keep your own room?" Amy asked, surprised.

"When Face first found the house, we weren't seeing each other," Murdock explained as he pulled out her clothing from underneath the pillows on the bed. "Sometimes the nightmares come back and neither of us wants to be in the same bed. Thankfully, that hasn't happened in a while. I've just never gotten around to moving my clothes upstairs."

Amy took the clothes he handed her. "No room in the closet?" she teased as she debated whether or not she had a right to be modest. Deciding that being modest was silly given what had transpired the night before, she started unbuttoning the shirt she'd borrowed.

"Well," Murdock conceded, "there's that."

He took a deep breath and reached for her hands, stopping their movement. "I'm sorry, Amy. I can't promise I won't have moments like this morning. Face will be the first to tell you I'm not an easy person to love."

"I'm beginning to get that idea," she agreed. "I'm still a bit annoyed with you, mind."

"I figured," he accepted. "But at least you can't say I'm not crazy over you." He paused. "May I show you how much?"

The smoldering flame she saw in his eyes startled her. "Proving it to me?"

He shook his head. "No," he said softly. "Because I want to love you. You're so beautiful, so passionate, Amy." His hands slipped up her arms, bringing her closer.

She watched, hypnotized, as his lips slowly descended to meet hers, and then he stopped, a hair's breadth away from kissing her.

"Say yes, Amy," he whispered.

"What about Face?" she wondered.

"Don't worry about me," was the quiet reply from the doorway. She turned to look at him, seeing only assurance. "You two need this more than me. Besides," he added with a grin, "we don't have to do things together all the time." Then he gently closed the door, leaving them alone.

"Amy?" Murdock asked again. "Please."

She looked at him, her heart full of love and longing. The depth of both surprised her. Somehow, she'd thought one night would ease that ache, but now, looking at him, she knew she'd been wrong. She was still annoyed, but being annoyed didn't change the fact she was still attracted to him, still wanted his kisses, his touch. It wasn't enough to overcome the want she felt now, nor was it enough to not forgive him.

Instead of replying with words, she kissed Murdock slowly, unsure at first if she was doing the right thing. He kissed her equally slowly, thoughtfully, lingering as if he was trying to show her his passion was nothing to fear. She quivered at the sweetness of his kiss even as his hands finished unbuttoning the shirt, sliding it off her shoulders and down her arms until she stood naked beneath his gaze.

Gently, he laid her down on the bed. His hands and mouth began a lust-arousing exploration of her soft flesh even as she reached for him, needing to touch him as much as he was touching her. Tenderly, they made love, solidifying their love for each other.

When they at last left Murdock's bedroom, Face was watching TV in the living room.

"Feeling better?" he asked them seriously, turning off the TV.

Murdock walked up and kissed him. "Now I am."

Face smiled. "Amy, did you need to head back? You mentioned something about meeting your friends, and it's almost two o'clock now."

"Trying to get rid of me now?" she teased.

He shrugged. "Well, if you'd rather stay —"

She shook her head. "No, I'd better go. My car's still at work, and I was supposed to meet them half an hour ago."

"Then I'll make sure you're not any later."

The following weekend

Face studied the woman who occupied a place in his heart as she leaned on the railing of the back deck. Rain whispered its promises on the wind, but it had been threatening to pour for hours. She'd been quiet all day, and he hadn't thought much of it at first, attributing it to the late night they'd had. She'd been a bit moodier than usual as well, and he wondered what was bothering her.

Stepping out of the dining room via the screen door, Face crossed the deck to hold her. Oddly, she didn't lean into his embrace the way she normally did. Fear shot through him as an old paranoia about abandonment he'd never been quite able to shake raced through his mind. Face let his hands and arms drop to his side.

"Amy?" He swallowed the fear. "Are you .do you not want me to touch you?"

"No!" she said quickly. "I'm just — " She stopped and sighed in frustration before offering him a rueful smile. "You know how you wondered if I freaked out in private?"

"And are you?" he asked gently.

"A little," she admitted.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, so a lot," she revised in a rush. "It just hit me when I woke up this morning, the way you and Murdock were curled around me, and you were both holding me like it was " She fumbled for words and gestured helplessly when she couldn't find them.

"Like it was what, Amy?"

"Like it was the way I'm supposed to wake up on a Saturday morning. Like maybe I want to keep doing that every morning. If you told me I'd wake up one day wanting that, back when we were a team, I'd have thought you were telling me the greatest joke in the world."

Face chuckled softly. "I wouldn't have believed you'd have wanted it then, either."

She was quiet a moment as she crossed her arms and pulled them tight against her body.

He studied her, seeing confusion and unhappiness. "What's on your mind?" he asked gently.

She took a deep breath and exhaled it. "Love," she admitted. "Us, this whole relationship." She half-shrugged. "The way I feel about you, about Murdock."

"I know you love Murdock," he told her, a slight grin tugging at the corners of his mouth as he remembered how she'd declared it. "There's nothing that says you and I have to be in love as well to do the things we do together. Do you care about me?"

"Yes," she answered without hesitation. "I very much love what we do together, Face, and I love you more than just friends, but it's not the way I feel about Murdock. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for how you feel," he told her as he ignored the pang her words gave him. "Sometimes I've thought that loving Murdock takes up so much room there's not much left over for anyone else." It was a truth, but it wasn't all of it. He didn't want her to feel like she had to match the depth of his emotion. It wasn't what he wanted from her, not now. He figured he had plenty of time to convince her he was worth her love.

"It's just " Amy struggled to find the words and paced a few steps away from him before turning back. "I feel like I'm cheating you somehow."

"Why?" he asked. "If you pretended to be in love with me because you thought I needed that, then maybe I can see you feeling like you were cheating me." He looked at her with an understanding smile. "We've only been together like this for five weeks. Took me longer than that to admit I loved Murdock."

She stared at him, not quite sure whether to believe him or not. "How long?"

He chuckled ruefully. "Almost a year. I freaked. It wasn't pretty. I spent some time trying to prove I wasn't in love with a man, much less someone who was having problems coping with reality."

Understanding flashed across her face. "That's one of the reasons why Murdock gets jealous sometimes, isn't it?"

Face nodded. "Made worse by the fact I didn't want to be in love anyone, either. What he and I have now didn't come overnight. It took us years to get here. There was a long time when I was sure we'd never be able to live like this."

Gently, he added, "I can live with knowing you care about me, Amy, that you love being with me, and if it never gets to be more than that, then that's more than I had three months ago." Silently, he prayed that with time it would be more than that, but he'd learned the virtue of patience years ago.

"But if I decided not to tell my friends that you're anything other than my friend and Murdock's best friend, would you be upset that I'm hiding the truth?"

"Not as open-minded as you'd like them to be?" His right hand smoothed a loose tendril of hair away from her face, making her smile at the gesture.

"Robyn talks a good game, but when it comes down to it," Amy looked at him sadly, "she's very conventional. She's my closest friend. Heather's fun to be with, but I wouldn't trust her not to try to seduce you."

Face chuckled. "Well, she can try, but I'm not going to let it get that far." He paused, knowing what he needed to say next. If his heart broke in the process, well, it was a small price to pay to keep her in his life. "Amy, we all make compromises. I lived with Hannibal enforcing a 'don't touch Murdock in public except as a friend' rule for years; I can live with Murdock being the boyfriend you admit to having."

She smiled, but it didn't quite light up her eyes. "I just want to shout to the rooftops sometimes how lucky I am to have you and Murdock. But other people aren't going to understand this."

"No," Face confirmed unhappily. "You have to admit, Amy, it sounds really kinky. You're in love with a guy who's in a committed relationship with another guy. You're having sex with both guys, and the three of you are friends."

"Put it that way," Amy said slowly, "and it sounds more titillating than it is. I don't see it as that. It feels, well, normal, like maybe we've been headed towards this all along." She looked at him. Her face revealed the sense of confusion she felt. "There's a part of me that thinks maybe I shouldn't see it like that. Like maybe I should be with Murdock more than you."

"Do you want to be?" Face asked carefully. His heart was in his throat, but long practice had him hiding that dread.

"And wonder if it's going to be the thing that drives you and Murdock apart?" Amy shot back. "Pretend like I don't lust after your body and the way you make me feel? I don't know about you, but I haven't ever managed the whole 'we'll still be friends' once the sex part was over."

Face shrugged, though he was secretly relieved. "It wouldn't be the first time someone chose someone else over me."

"Do you want me to?" Amy countered. She looked miserable at the thought, but he recognized she had the right to ask. "I mean, I think I'd understand if you thought it was better if I just stayed away."

"How could that be better?" Face reasoned. "We'd be making Murdock choose, too, and for what?"

Amy shrugged. "You tell me. I never pretended to understand the logic behind half of your schemes. It's always been enough for me to know you had a plan, I had a part to play, and if we were successful, we'd do something for the team."

"And what of our friendship, Amy?" Face asked, irritated. "That wasn't anything I planned."

"That's different," she argued. "I didn't plan on that either. But I'm standing here wondering if you wouldn't be happier giving all your love and attention to Murdock."

Face stared at her. "Where the hell did you get that idea?"

She held his gaze for a moment before looking away. "I watch you with him sometimes and it just — there's no way I should be a part of your relationship. You have so much history with him, so much love for each other, and I don't know how I'm supposed to act when you look at me like I'm the present you never expected to have."

"And you think we'll get tired of you?" Face asked. "Speaking for myself, I don't think I will. You think I want to give up your friendship, give you up as my lover? I don't have to pretend anything with you, not like I would if you were any other woman.

"I don't want to give up being with you. I've just gotten used to believing we can make this work. I don't want to go back to just being your friend, Amy. I'm not sure I can pretend not being that interested in you, not after knowing what I know now." He shook his head ruefully. "It was a lot easier when I was just guessing what kind of lover you'd be. For a while there, you had me worried that you'd run off with Daniel Running Bear."

She half-chuckled. "I think I worried everyone where he was concerned. Hannibal asked me if I was going to come back to LA."

"Well, from where we were all standing, it looked like you'd fallen pretty hard for him. He pretty much fell the day he met you."

She shook her head. "He wanted forever. I didn't." She sighed. "Which leaves me to wonder what you want from me and if you're just saying what you think I want to hear."

Annoyed, he snapped, "No. God, Amy, you think I'd con you now, over something as important as this? Do you think I really want you to not trust me?"

"No," she said swiftly, "but I wonder if you're just doing this to keep Murdock happy."

He stared at her, shocked again. "I wouldn't," he said, incredulous at the accusation. "I'd do a lot, but not pretend to want you this much. I couldn't. Amy, sweetheart, what is going on in that head of yours? Are you that scared? I haven't seen you this afraid since we had to run from those guys in Jamestown."

She closed her eyes briefly. When she opened her eyes again, she didn't meet his gaze, but looked away at the trees that bordered the back of the property. "The last time I wanted something this badly, and was this sure I'd screwed up, was when I was on that plane to Mexico with you and you were explaining to me that Murdock was really insane."

He chuckled, remembering, but quickly sobered as he caught the implication of her words. "And what makes you think you're screwing it up?"

She didn't answer right away. She was pretty good at rolling with the punches, he knew, but he also knew the way she dealt with the fallout was to analyze it to pieces when she thought it was safe.

Finally, when the silence had stretched to a thin razor wire of anticipation, she admitted, "I keep thinking it's not supposed to be this simple. I keep looking over my shoulder for someone to tell me I can't have what I have with you and Murdock, that it's against the law or something."

"It probably is in Missouri," he said quickly, grinning.

When she didn't return his smile, he studied her a moment, assessing her. What he saw made him sigh. "I can't promise you what we have now is going to be all candlelight and roses, Amy. I think you know us better than that."

"I know," she said quietly. "In some ways, I wish I'd just met you and didn't know everything I do."

Face smiled. "You'd still be freaking out, Amy. You weren't expecting to fall in love with Murdock."

She shook her head slightly. "Am I that much of an open book to you?"

He drew her into his arms and held her close. "Well, it helps that I've known you a while. If you were taking this all in stride, I'd wonder if you'd gotten too good at hiding how you feel."

She chuckled ruefully. "Somehow, I don't think I'd be able to hide much from you."

They heard the screen door slide open and turned to see Murdock step out.

"Oh, there you are," he said, clearly relieved to know where they were. "I was beginning to wonder where you'd gone off to."

Something in the way he said it made Face narrow his gaze. Amy glanced at Face, then looked at Murdock. She felt Face's hands start to slip from where they rested at her waist. With a sudden start, Amy realized that Murdock was jealous and that Face was moving to intercept it. She quickly reached down and grabbed Face's hands, stopping him. He looked at her. His expression warned her she'd better let go.

"We were just talking, Murdock," Amy said quickly. "Have I told you lately I'm in love with you?"

She saw Face's look that said she'd made a great save. She let go of his hands so she could turn towards Murdock, who looked caught off guard by the question.

"Not lately, no," Murdock said finally, and smiled. "Why don't you two come in before it rains and you can show me?"

Three weeks later

The bedside clock's alarm shrilled and was instantly silenced by a slap of Murdock's hand. Hearing it, Amy groaned at the reminder she needed to be awake, wishing for a moment she could stay safely tucked in between her two lovers. It didn't seem fair that they lived far enough out of the city that she had to get up at five to be at work on time, but being with them was worth it.

Though it was only the second weekend in a row she'd spent the entire weekend with them, she was starting to really get used to waking up like this. Face had draped his arm around her waist in his sleep, keeping her spooned up against him, while Murdock had chosen to sleep facing her, his arm around her as well. The mornings she spent in her condo waking up alone just didn't seem to feel right anymore.

"Don't go," Face said as he tightened his grip on Amy, who was promptly distracted from answering with a deep kiss from Murdock.

Reluctantly, Amy pulled back from the kiss and squirmed against the hold. "Guys, come on. My adoring public waits for me to tape the week's segments."

"Oh, but we can adore you here just fine," Murdock said, his hand slipping down her waist to the junction between her thighs, his fingers slipping underneath her panties and seeking the sensitive flesh hidden there.

Inhaling sharply, Amy tried to ignore the spike of desire that flooded through her. "Stop that! As much as I would love to stay, I was late last week and my producer wanted to fire me."

"I suppose we should let you go," Face mused, considering. "Are you coming back tonight?"

Amy smiled at the request. "Of course. You promised to show me the house on York Street you're renovating, remember?"

"So I did," he agreed, and then kissed her before slipping out of bed so she could get out on that side, which was the closest to the bathroom.

She noted with a smile that her lovers took the opportunity of her leaving the bed to snuggle with each other. They were still that way when she exited her shower and changed into the clothes she'd brought with her two nights before. She had a sneaking suspicion they were doing more than just holding each other, but didn't dare look. If she looked, she knew she'd be tempted to join them in what she'd learned was Murdock's favorite way to wake up.

Amy headed downstairs as she tried to get the images of her lovers together out of her head. Two days ago, they'd been more than happy to demonstrate just how she could help them make love; it had been a very arousing and educational experience. Combined with the way they made love with her, together and separately, it was nearly enough to make her want to head back upstairs and call in sick just so she could repeat those experiences. She forced herself to continue downstairs, reminding herself that even if she wasn't looking forward to a day in the studio, Murdock had flying lessons to teach and Face was going to check on the progress of the house he was having renovated for sale.

She shook her head, amused, as she realized how very lustful and loving her life had become. It didn't seem real, somehow, that she was this happy, that Face and Murdock were happy with her. She still had some doubts, but she was beginning to think that her fears were unfounded. Murdock loved her, and she knew Face cared about her. Both men did their best to make sure she felt included in their lives, without pressuring her to give up her own. In return, she tried to give them as much as they gave her.

The smell of coffee from the automatic coffeemaker pulled her out her musing and into the kitchen, where she poured herself a cup and added half-and-half. She was careful to leave enough half-and-half for Face and made a mental note to buy more on her way back to the house later.

Humming to herself, she toasted a slice of bread and located the jar of peanut butter. While the bread toasted, she walked to the living room, flipped on the TV to the news, checking on the early traffic report as she sipped coffee. When she heard the toaster pop up the bread, she spread peanut butter on the toast and finished both it and her coffee while watching the news. She turned off the TV and put her dishes in the dishwasher, as comfortable in this house as she was in her own.

She spent a moment putting down the top of her convertible before sliding into the driver's seat and turning on the radio for traffic updates. Pulling into the street, she navigated the now-familiar route to work, her mind focused on the segments she was to tape that day even as she wished she could have stayed with her lovers for one more hour. Even at that early hour, it was beginning to warm up; it promised to be a typical summer day in LA.

Traffic into the city was just starting to build, but Amy had allotted enough time for any potential problems. She'd just taken her usual turnoff to the route she preferred to use to get to the Channel 11 office tower. It went through a section of the city that was in need of revitalization; a semi-abandoned strip mall sat a few blocks away from the freeway off-ramp; a city park that had seen better years bordered one side of the road; the few houses around looked as though they'd been condemned. It wasn't the greatest sight to see on the way into work, but Amy knew it was faster than trying to go through the main drag. She was sitting at the lone stoplight, wondering if she'd ever see any dogs hanging out behind the chain-link fence of the doggy day care on the corner, when, out of nowhere, a man jumped into the passenger seat of her car.

He pointed a gun at her. "Do as I as I say or I'll shoot."

"What do you want?" Amy demanded, turning to face her kidnapper. He was a middle-aged Caucasian man, with wavy brown hair and an otherwise unremarkable face and a medium build. He wore a denim work shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, cuffed with neat precision. His brown eyes were hard as they stared back at her.

"Keep driving," he told her. "And shut up." He pressed the gun deeper into her side.

Amy's mind spun. She'd expected something like this to happen in the days she'd been a part of the team, but not now. Still, she wasn't entirely surprised, either; she knew the team had made a lot of enemies, and some of them even knew she was a member.

She drove, not wanting to piss off her attacker just yet. She knew she had to escape. The guys wouldn't know where she was; they'd have no reason to believe anything was wrong. They'd drilled in her the need to see avenues of escape; she just hadn't thought she'd ever need them again now that they were safe.

Mentally, she scoffed at that idea and forced the rising hysteria down. She needed a clear head; she needed to think. The only person who could get her out now was her. They were currently on an open stretch of road near a city park; if she remembered right, the road curved and there was a giant oak that protruded out into the sidewalk that denoted an access road into the park.

Opportunity came as they rounded that curve in the road and she flooded the gas pedal. With a silent wince at the damage she was going to cause to her car, she aimed for the tree.

Her kidnapper saw her intent and grabbed the parking brake. It was too late to stop the impact. For a moment, he lay dazed in the passenger seat, blood streaming from where his head had made contact on the dashboard.

Sparing him only the briefest of glances, Amy unfastened her seatbelt, wincing as she felt the bruises across her torso. Ignoring her pain, she started trying to get out of the car. Her door was stuck shut. She hastily started to move out over the door as her attacker started to stir.

She got as far as a leg over before he grabbed her, dragging her back in.

Squirming, kicking, trying her best to get free, Amy fought with her kidnapper. She found a way out of the car, only to be snatched back. She lost a shoe with only the briefest of regrets. She'd managed to elude her attacker and was celebrating the fact she'd kept up with her running when she felt the sting of a needle and then remembered nothing else.

10:00 AM

"Looking good, Luka," Face said, clapping his general contractor on the back. "How much longer?"

Luka surveyed the progress. "We get the drywall up; we have another two weeks, maybe three. Is good house. You know how to pick them, boss."

"Good," Face smiled. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Luka looked at Face. "How big is the next one?"

"Not very big," Face told him. "Two bedrooms, one bath, about fifteen hundred square feet. The bath's the big problem — it's going to have be completely torn out and redone. Your cousin might like it — it's in Calabasas."

Luke looked surprised. "How'd you know my cousin was looking for a house?" he asked.

Face hid a grin, pleased to be able to surprise him. "You'll let him know?"

"Of course. You make him a deal?"

Face chuckled. "Maybe," he promised. "I'll leave you to it, Luka."

Luka nodded. "Thank you."

Pleased with the house's progress, Face headed off to pick out flooring for the next house. He was halfway to the store when his phone rang.

"Hello, I'd like to speak with Templeton Peck," a woman's voice said.

"This is Templeton," he replied. The professional way she said his name made him prepare to dismiss her as a telemarketer. "How can I help you?"

"My name is Robyn Johnson. I'm a friend of Amy's from Channel 11. I found your card in her Rolodex, and since it has her boyfriend's name scribbled on it, I'm hoping you can help me." She took a deep breath. "Have you seen Amy at all today?"

A sense of foreboding rose up in him, nameless and too strong to ignore. Over the years, Face had learned to trust his instincts; they were pealing bells now. Hastily, Face pulled over to the side of the road. "No, not since she left the house this morning around six."

"House? Oh, right, she mentioned you and Murdock shared a house. So is there any chance she and him might have left together?"

"No, he and I were having a discussion," Face said smoothly. Yeah, if you consider having sex a conversation, he thought, but the need for discretion was an ingrained habit. "I take it Amy isn't at work?"

"She usually stops by and we go get coffee before she tapes her segments on Mondays. It's now ten, and even accounting for traffic, she's never later than eight-thirty. Well, except for last week, when she said Murdock distracted her."

Well, it was more me and Murdock, Face thought, but we won't get into that. Aloud, he said, "So I heard. I can call him and check to see if he decided to convince her to play hooky, but he's probably up in the air teaching flying, so it might be a while before I get back to you. Is there a number I can reach you, Robyn?"

"Yes." She gave him both her office and home numbers. "Thanks, Templeton. I hope she's okay."

"I'll let you know as soon as I do," he promised. He hung up and quickly dialed the airfield.

"Lammas Field, this is Judy, how can I help you?"

"Hi, Judy, this is Templeton Peck. I'm trying to get a hold of Murdock. Is he in the air right now?"

He heard the rustle of papers before Judy said, "Yes, he is. He should be touching down around noon, though. Would you like to leave him a message?"

"He didn't happen to bring his girlfriend with him today, did he?" Face knew the answer was no; he'd heard Amy's car leave, but he wanted to double-check. Silently, he calculated whether or not to tell Judy to get a hold of Murdock now.

No, better not. If Amy's just out somewhere and forgot to let anyone know where she went, I don't want Murdock worrying any earlier than necessary, Face thought.

"No, the guy he's teaching booked him for four hours — guy really wants to get his instrument rating something fierce — and Murdock usually lets us know if he's bringing along someone. Is she missing?"

"Her work's trying to find her," Face said. "I'm just checking all the possibilities." He forced a cheer he didn't feel into his voice. "Maybe she just decided to take an unscheduled vacation day and forgot to tell everyone."

"Well, I hope she's okay," Judy said. "I'll let Murdock know you called looking for her. Does he have your number?"

"Yes, but please tell him to call me on my mobile. Thanks, Judy."

"You're welcome," Judy replied, and hung up.

Possibilities swam through his head, but he forced himself to focus on driving, to ignore the well of fear that had settled in his stomach.

Needing to reassure himself, he drove to Amy's work to check the parking garage.

Pulling up at the tiny booth where a uniformed attendant stood passing out tickets in front of a simple lift gate, he asked, "Excuse me, but I was wondering if you saw a blue '89 Sunbird convertible go through this morning. It's my girlfriend's car, and I left a rather important file in it, and she can't remember where she parked the car."

The lanky black man grinned. "Oh, Miss Allen's car? She usually parks it on this level, since she's usually one of the last people to leave, but I haven't seen it yet this morning."

"Damn," Face swore. "Thanks, though."

"You're welcome," the attendant said. "Nice 'vette, by the way."

Face smiled, more genuinely this time. "Thanks. Say, do you mind if I just pull through and around?"

"Not a problem, man." He pushed the button to release the gate, allowing Face to drive around and out of the Channel 11 parking garage.

Twenty minutes later, Face was at Amy's condo. He made quick work of the locks, half-glad that Amy had yet to take him up on his offer to replace them with better. If she had, getting in would have required a locksmith's master key and not his set of lock picks. A quick search of the small condo proved it was not only empty, but it hadn't been touched since Amy had been in it on Friday morning.

Face found her answering machine, which was blinking. He pressed play.

"Amy, where the hell are you?" a man's voice demanded loudly and irritably. "You'd better be hacking your lungs out, sick, or I swear to God, I'll fire you, you hear?"

The machine's mechanical voice added, "Message left, 9:10 AM, Monday."

Face groaned silently. He made a mental note to get Robyn to let him speak to Amy's boss and convince the guy to calm down.

The next message was from Robyn. "Hey, girl, you're probably out smooching that handsome boyfriend of yours, but if you ever come up for air, call me. I'd love to check out the home show with you, if not this weekend, then definitely next Saturday. If I don't hear back, I'll talk to you Monday."

The machine added, "Message left, 1:23 PM, Saturday."

There were two other hang-ups, but neither left a message; whoever had called had evidently hung on long enough to breathe into the phone and cause the machine to think it was a message.

Grimly, Face exited the condo. Back in his car, he pondered his next move. He wanted to find her before he had to tell Murdock she was missing. He'd seen how angry his lover could get if someone he cared about was hurt or missing; he remembered how coldly focused Murdock had gotten when Amy had been hurt on that ill-fated mission in Oregon years before. Face didn't want to see him like that again. If Face could find Amy before he had to tell Murdock she was gone, then that whole scene could be avoided.

He just hoped the icy fear twisted around his heart wasn't a premonition of danger.

"Not that I'm complaining that we're having lunch, Face," Murdock said after they'd seated themselves in a booth at the small caf housed in the same building as the airfield's administrative offices and control tower, "but you never kiss me in public unless I initiate it. What's wrong?"

Face met his gaze and sighed, realizing he'd slipped. He'd needed that kiss, but he hadn't wanted to reveal his worry so soon. "Did Amy mention anything to you about meeting anyone this morning?"

Murdock shook his head. "No. Remember, she said she'd be taping her segments today?"

"I just thought maybe she said something when she was talking to you before dinner yesterday."

"She was worried about what Hannibal thinks of us," Murdock replied. "I told her I wasn't worried about it, especially since he'd have said something by now."

"He thinks she's just seeing you," Face informed him. "He asked me after dinner if I had any problems with it. I said no, that you and I were still together, and he didn't say anything after that."

"Going to let him figure it out by himself again?" Murdock asked archly before taking a bite of his sandwich.

"I thought we'd agreed that you'd be Amy's boyfriend in public," Face replied. "That's what Amy wanted."

"Face, it's Hannibal. BA's already figured it out; how much longer do you think it'll take Hannibal?"

"Probably not very long," Face said heavily. He wasn't hungry, but forced himself to eat anyway. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

Murdock started to speak, then changed his mind. "You still haven't answered my earlier question," he reminded Face. "Why are you here?"

"What?" Face tried. "I can't have lunch with you?"

"Ordinarily," Murdock replied, "I'd believe you. But you made it clear to me and Amy yesterday that you were going to be a busy, busy man today, between checking in on the house on York Street and picking out materials for the new one in Calabasas. In all the time you've been flipping houses, you've only ignored your plans once, and that was when Hannibal asked you to help him get into that upper-class apartment complex he's living in now. Come on, Face, do you think I don't pay attention?"

"No, but I feel like I've been ignoring you lately," Face dodged. Admitting his fears made them real, and he didn't want to them to be. Admitting he needed his lover's help only drove home the fact that the notion of being the one who found Amy had a strong appeal.

Murdock shot him an irritated look. "Quit that," he ordered. "Before you make me start wondering just how bad it could be that you're trying to con me into thinking everything's okay."

Unable to hide anymore, Face sighed. "I could be worrying for nothing," he began. "But a friend of Amy's called me, looking for you. She thought maybe Amy and you had played hooky."

"How long has she been gone?"

"She never made it to work. It's now almost one o'clock, and there's still no sign of her. I''ve already checked the hospitals — no one's been brought in that matches her description. I've driven all over, trying to figure out ways Amy could have gone into work, and there's no sign of her car anywhere." He turned bleak eyes to his lover. "I wanted to find her so you wouldn't have to worry, and I can't do that."

Murdock took a deep breath and exhaled it. "You can't do this alone," he told Face. "I'll go upstairs and tell Judy we've an emergency. Then I'll help you look."

"And if we don't find her in another two hours?"

"Then we'll call Hannibal and BA and they'll help." He reached across the table and grasped Face's hand in his. Meeting Face's eyes, he said firmly, "We will find her."

Yet Face couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had settled firmly in his stomach. Still, he nodded agreement, and they rose, abandoning their barely-touched lunch.

Meanwhile:

Amy woke up to the distinct smell of smelling salts. She held back the urge to vomit and found herself securely tied to a white four-poster bed. She glanced up at the ceiling and found that it was decorated in pink hearts and flowers to match the pink bedspread and the pink walls. Instinctively, she began to struggle.

"Don't bother," her kidnapper told her. He'd patched up the head wound, she saw. "I learned how to tie knots in the Navy."

"Why are you doing this?" she asked him.

"You promised," he told her. "You promised you'd try. You didn't try hard enough. Now if I like your answers, maybe you won't get hurt." He pulled out a knife and laid it against her stomach. "So tell me why you didn't get my story aired."

"What story?" Amy scrambled to figure out who this guy was. She knew she'd never met him before in her life, though the voice sounded vaguely familiar. Her head pounded from whatever he'd shot her with.

"Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?" Amy stalled. All she could think of was what the A-Team had drilled into her: in the face of danger, when you can't run, and you haven't got a plan, stall for time. Thinking of it made her hope that maybe by now they knew she was missing.

"I called you over and over again. You promised every time you'd tell me if my story was going to be aired. You never did." The knifepoint now traced a thin line across her stomach.

"Stories take time," Amy countered. She tried to move away from the threat the knife posed, but found he'd tied her firmly against the headboard, with not even a pillow to cushion her.

"Bullshit," her kidnapper said. "You just didn't want to tell Jennifer Kimball's story. It's just one kid, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"My daughter," he said. "I'm Kevin Kimball. Ring a bell?"

"I'm sorry, I don't remember everyone I talk to," Amy lied. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it.

Kevin scoffed, not believing her. "Maybe I'll refresh your memory some more. She was four years old. Dark brown hair, like yours, green eyes. She had her mother's eyes, her mother's smile. She loved to play checkers. She had this little travel game her uncle gave her for Christmas — didn't really understand the rules, but she liked the way the magnets looked and she'd try to play anyway."

Amy stared at him, shock seeping through her like cold on a winter day. She knew him now. She'd talked to him on the phone, promised to follow through if the story had been approved. She'd done some preliminary legwork based on what he'd given her over the phone, but when the story had been canned, she'd pushed it out of her mind. It had been over a month since she'd first talked to him, and there'd been other, more pressing issues.

"You said you understood the pain I went through when she died," Kevin said in that same conversational tone. "Have you ever had a child, Miss Allen?"

"No," she admitted.

"Then you don't know," he spat, and the knife he wielded cut deeper, spilling blood.


	4. Chapter 4

BA looked grimly at Hannibal from where he stood in the kitchen of Face and Murdock's house. Hannibal shrugged slightly; there wasn't much else he could do, though he worried. It wasn't like Murdock to get angry, and when he did, he went quiet. The silence was more disturbing because Murdock tended to fill the room with his chatter. Face, meanwhile, had buried himself in checking every possible detail in the hopes they'd overlooked something.

Hannibal hated seeing them like this; he'd seen Amy with them at dinner the previous evening. They'd been relaxed, happy, comfortable, and well on the way to being deeply in love with her. His greatest worry then had been how to tell them he wasn't fooled by the pretense that Amy was only seeing Murdock. There'd been none of the tension he'd gotten used to seeing when Murdock or Face had dated someone else.

Her condo had been checked, again. Places they knew she frequented had been checked. They'd found her car, wrecked, but hidden from the main road. Face had initially missed the scar to the giant oak tree, since he'd approached at it from the opposite direction. Whoever had Amy had taken the time to wedge it further into the grove of trees, hiding it even further. It had been abandoned ten miles from her place of work, blood staining the driver's seat. That had sent them scurrying to check area hospitals and emergency clinics, including a few that asked no questions about how someone got injured as long as cash was paid, but to no avail.

"Maybe we're going about this all wrong, Hannibal," Murdock offered, the words hesitant at first. "What if it's someone who knew Amy was helping us?"

"You think it's one of our enemies?"

"Who else could it be?" Murdock asked.

"Can't be," Face said as he poured over a map of Los Angeles. He had a ruler and a pencil and was triangulating the routes Amy had to take to get to work.

Hannibal looked at him and his eyes narrowed. "Why not?"

"You're still keeping up that list?" BA asked Face.

Face shrugged. "I did learn a few things from that computer class I took." He smiled briefly. "Just not what the instructor intended."

"What list?" Hannibal demanded.

"Well, BA helped with it," Face demurred. "See, the assignment was to create a table with names and numbers in it. Just two little columns, nothing fancy. Well, I talked with some people in my class, and got a hold of a few people who knew people who knew people, and, with some input from BA, because I couldn't remember everyone — well, I know where our enemies are."

"It's a database, Hannibal," BA put in.

"You didn't bother to mention this earlier, Lieutenant?" Hannibal asked incredulously.

"I did try to tell you I had the angles covered," Face said, irked. "You weren't listening. Now, it's possible I missed someone, but the most likely folks to do this sort of thing to Amy aren't due out on parole for another year at least." He drew another line and stared at the map. "Damn."

"What is it, Face?"

Face pointed to the map, which lay across the dining table. "This house is here in Montclair —" he pointed to the northeast section of the map "—Amy's condo's here on the west side of LA, which is south and east of the Channel 11 office building. Either way, it's mostly freeway. We found her car off Highway 101, right where both the route from our house and the route from her place meet."

"Ain't no way that's a coincidence. Someone was tailing her," BA surmised.

The four men looked at each other grimly.

"Face, Murdock, when you found the car, did you notice anything around it that stuck out?" Hannibal asked.

"Billy wanted to go to doggy day care," Murdock said, "but I said no. Oh, hush, Billy, I'll find you a playmate, you'll see."

"Shut up, fool," BA growled.

"No, actually, BA, he's got a point," Face countered. "Damn, why didn't I see this before? I knew I was missing something."

When Face didn't immediately elaborate, Hannibal prompted, "See what, Face?"

"If you get off the freeway there, you can cut across surface streets, get out of the freeway crawl, but there's a daycare center for dogs about four blocks from where we found Amy's car. You have to stop at a crosswalk before you get there. Bright yellow brick building, chain-link fence, right on the corner and hard to miss in that little strip mall that's there." He glanced at his watch. "It's probably too late now to contact anyone there. If they run them like they do daycare for kids, they won't have anyone there after seven, and it's now almost eight."

"Give it a shot anyway," Hannibal ordered.

"BA, would you hand me the phone and the phone book behind you?" Face asked.

Out of courtesy, the rest of the team moved out of the kitchen and into the living room.

"All right, guys," Hannibal said, "we saw the news earlier: they didn't mention anything about Amy being missing."

"They ran the extra segment she taped last week," Murdock said, nodding. "She was saying that they always tape an extra one just in case something comes up — usually the producer decides he doesn't like one of them for some reason. Amy was really psyched about this one — she said she had a lot of fun with the fire department, demonstrating the flammable nature of spray confetti and other aerosol products."

"Sounds like they're assuming she just decided to take an unscheduled day off," BA said.

"Murdock, you said earlier you checked in with Robyn, the friend of Amy's who called," Hannibal said. "Did she mention anything about the station having a policy about calling the cops in a situation like this?'

Murdock shook his head. "I didn't ask her that. She gave me her home number. I'll use my mobile and call her." He took a deep breath. "Hannibal, if we don't find Amy "

"We'll find her," Hannibal said firmly. "We haven't lost a member of this team yet and I don't want to start now. Go make that call, Murdock."

Hannibal waited until Murdock had gone into his bedroom to make that call before he turned to BA.

"You got Amy's car towed back to your shop?"

BA nodded. "If the cops get involved, they'll want to look it over for evidence," he reminded him. "They'll give us grief for removing it."

Hannibal's eyes narrowed as he considered this. "I'm not getting the cops involved until we know there's no other option, BA. We can find her faster than they can and avoid some of their red tape. Now you said that 911 dispatcher friend of yours said no one reported seeing the car wreck, which means no one's looking for her."

BA shook his head. "Hard to believe no one would bother being a Good Samaritan," he said disgustedly.

"Nobody to see it," Hannibal pointed out. "Not much there but the road and the half-abandoned strip mall and that line of trees bordering the park. If she left here by six, the only folks around to see her crash would be the other cars on the road, if there were any. If she was lucky, a jogger might've seen her, but it doesn't sound like it. Besides, we're in LA. You know nobody stops for a crash in this town, especially where she was."

BA sighed, frustrated. "You think Face is wrong about it not being one of our enemies?"

"No," Hannibal said after a moment. "But I'd feel better if I could see this database. You know how to access it?"

BA nodded. "Face showed me, since I helped him put it together. It's on his computer in the office upstairs, but I saw it when he was checking it earlier, before you showed up. I don't think he's wrong, Hannibal."

Hannibal looked at BA a moment, then nodded. "That's good enough for me, then."

Just then, Face stepped into the living room. "I just talked to the owner of the doggy day care. She doesn't remember seeing Amy's car, but her brother has a search-and-rescue dog. They'll meet us at the doggy day care if we bring something with Amy's scent on it."

"Got anything like that?" Hannibal asked.

Face nodded. "She forgot to take her clothes she wore this weekend with her this morning. I'll be right back." He headed upstairs.

Murdock stepped out of his bedroom. "Robyn says she doesn't think they have a policy on calling the cops." He looked worn out by the conversation. "She's pretty frantic, Hannibal. Her little brother was kidnapped. They never got him back."

"We'll get Amy back," Hannibal vowed as Face came back down the stairs, holding a small canvas bag and a printout, which Hannibal assumed was a hard copy of the database — plan B in case the dog didn't work out.

With that, the team climbed into BA's van.

By Amy's estimation, Kevin had been ranting for a good twenty minutes now; if she interrupted, he cut or hit her. She now had shallow slices on her arms and legs in addition to her stomach wound. He had strong hands and a wickedly powerful slap. He was on his third or fourth rant since lunchtime; he'd rant for a while, hurt her, then leave her alone. The Barbie clock on the white-and-pink dresser across the room told her it was now almost three-thirty.

She'd thought, somewhere around the time her stomach reminded her it was lunchtime, that he felt remorse for his actions. He'd untied her, allowed her to use the tiny, windowless bathroom, allowed her to clean her wounds up a bit. When she'd turned to thank him for it, he'd stabbed her again with a sedative, tied her up, and woken her up with smelling salts to hear him rant about how she and the system had failed him, failed his daughter. What 'system' he meant, Amy wasn't sure he even knew anymore. If he'd been a rabid dog, he'd have been foaming at the mouth already. As it was, she wasn't sure if she could reach him; his grief had driven him insane.

The pain from her stomach wound flared across her senses, but Amy refused to let it dictate her. She had to reach Kevin somehow. If she didn't, she knew she was as good as dead; she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out now. Her greatest defense had always been words.

"Kevin, please don't hurt me anymore," she pleaded. "Hurting me isn't going to get your story heard."

He slapped her, hard. "You don't understand," he told her. "I don't care how much you hurt. I hurt worse. You promised to tell the truth. You promised you'd tell Jennifer's story."

"But—" It hurt to move her jaw, and she had to swallow against the pain. "I don't have control over the stories I tell. I have some say, but not all. I tried, but my producer overruled me."

He dug the knife he held in deeper. He was slicing her open, one slow, maddening stroke at a time. "I don't care how much you hurt," he repeated. "You were my last hope. Everyone else turned me down. I heard you were fair, that you told the stories no one else would. My daughter was my reason to live. Everyone else I talked to didn't give a damn. I waited four months. Watched you every work day, like clockwork. You failed me."

"I tried, Kevin. If you stop cutting me, I'll try again," Amy bargained. "Kevin, if you keep this up, you will kill me. How can I help you then?"

He stared at her as if that idea had never occurred to him.

"I know you hurt," Amy said quickly, pouncing on his confusion. "I know I don't understand, but please. Give me the chance to tell the world. I still have contacts at the LA Courier; I could run a news article. I can't do that if you keep on hurting me."

He continued to stare at her. For a moment, she thought she'd reached him. Then he took the knife and sliced her one more time. This time, the knife cut deeper, and she felt new pain flare across her senses. She glanced down, and wished immediately she hadn't. She could see just how nasty the wound in her stomach had become.

"I trusted you," he said quietly, stepping away. "Guess you just prove you can't trust a woman. Especially not a woman reporter who doesn't give a damn about saving someone else's little girl."

"I never said I didn't care!" Amy shot back.

"If you cared," he told her with finality, "you would've pushed harder to get my story on the air. I have nothing now, thanks to you."

He walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him and leaving her to bleed. She wasn't sure if she could hold on long enough for rescue; there were spots forming in her eyes and she felt lightheaded and dizzy. She knew enough of wound care from her days with the team to know she was slowly bleeding to death. She wasn't even sure if Face and Murdock even knew she was missing now. For a moment, she wished she could talk to them one more time, tell them how much she loved them, tell them she was sorry she'd gotten into this situation.

When she heard the gunshot from the living room, she closed her eyes and surrendered to the tears and pain.

"Your friend's in that house," Brian, the dog handler said four hours later, holding back the German shepherd with an effort. They'd had an agonizing half hour where they all thought the dog had lost the trail, only for the bloodhound to pick it up again, thanks to a dropped shoe, an observant cab driver, and a healthy dose of the kind of sheer good luck the A-Team always managed to find in situations like these.

Armed and ready for the worst, the team moved out, surrounding the small, Spanish-influenced house. Hannibal knocked on the door, his gun concealed by the light jacket he wore. Face backed him up; Murdock and BA watched the perimeter while Brian and his dog hung back at the van.

No one answered the doorbell. Instinct born of a thousand battlefields had Face scanning the area around the house. Night had fallen, but in the overly bright glow of the street lights, the neighborhood seemed unreasonably still. He glanced at Hannibal, who nodded confirmation: he felt it too.

For a moment, Face's mind went blank as it filled with what could be awaiting him beyond that door.

"The door, Face," Hannibal ordered softly, snapping him out of his fear. Hannibal's voice made his name sound like the rank he'd addressed him as for years, and responding to that tone of voice was an old, ingrained habit.

He nodded acknowledgment of that order and went to work on picking the lock.

The door swung open easily to reveal a living room, where a TV played. Hannibal went in first to check the room, Face a heartbeat behind.

Face watched Hannibal go to the recliner, where a middle-aged man lay slumped, bleeding from a wound to the heart. The gun on the floor made the cause obvious; what they didn't know was whether he was still alive. Mindful of the blood, Hannibal checked the man's pulse.

"Dead," Hannibal pronounced, stepping away. "Check the bedrooms."

Face nodded. The man was no one he recognized.

The first bedroom was locked; a glance into the master bedroom at the end of the hall showed it was empty, as was the single bathroom. "Amy?" Face called in hope as he went to work on yet another lock. This one was far simpler than the front door and yielded easily.

Overwhelmingly pink walls were echoed in a Barbie pink bedspread on a white twin-size poster bed. Amy lay tied to the headboard. Blood stained her clothing. She wasn't conscious. For a heartbeat, he believed she was dead, but he didn't want to believe. Praying silently, he felt for a pulse. It was weak, but there. Cursing, he swiftly cut the ropes binding her, wincing again as he noticed how deeply they'd cut into her wrists. He noticed as well that there were multiple cuts on her arms and legs.

"Amy, wake up," Face ordered as he checked for the location of her major wound. Blood saturated her stomach from a deep slice, and Face swore. He could see her intestines had been injured, though how much he didn't know. Carefully, he checked for any other wounds, following the first aid he'd learned through necessity over the years. He tried his level best to keep from looking at her as his lover, though he knew a scream was building inside his body, demanding release. Her face was heavily bruised, as if someone had been punching her.

"Face?" Hannibal asked. Face took a deep breath, taking comfort from the level, no-nonsense tone Hannibal used. If Hannibal could be strong, then so could he.

"We need to get her to a hospital now, Hannibal," Face said. "Bastard beat her up. He cut her up; worst one's her stomach."

"How bad?"

"She's not responsive. She might be drugged," Face said grimly even as he reached for the first aid kit he'd strapped to his belt. "Might be just out of it from loss of blood."

Hannibal assessed the situation, his gaze taking in everything as he did so. His eyes flashed when he realized how badly Amy was injured, and when he spoke, his voice was that hard, battlefield tone he'd cultivated out of sheer necessity. Hearing it gave Face an odd sort of comfort; it told him Hannibal wasn't taking this lightly.

"If we leave and take her," Hannibal decided, "Brian will have to call 911 anyway to take care of the body in the living room. Might as well do it now, save a few questions later. See what you can do to stop the bleeding." He moved out of the tiny room.

Murdock and BA came in a moment later. Thankfully, BA was ahead of Murdock and saw the scene before Murdock could.

"Face's got her, Murdock," BA said sternly, stopping him and turning around. "No room in there anyway for all of us."

"Amy?" Murdock started.

"We need to get her to a hospital, Murdock," Face answered. He was suddenly insanely grateful they had their military training to fall back on; he knew instinctively he wouldn't have been able to handle this otherwise. As it was, it tore at his heart to see the woman he loved like this.

He took a deep breath and willed himself to not remember how smooth her stomach had been the last time he'd seen her. "Before we get Amy help, we need to get our weapons secured before the cops and the EMT's show up. Would you go take care of that?"

"Face, is she okay?"

Face closed his eyes at the fear he heard in Murdock's voice, the fear that was currently threatening to strangle his ability to do what needed to be done. He swallowed hard. "No, she's not, but Hannibal's calling an ambulance now. Go take care of the weapons, Murdock."

"I'm not leaving you alone to deal with this," Murdock snapped. He handed his gun to BA.

"Give me your weapon, Face," BA suggested, stepping into the room.

Careful not to jostle Amy, Face handed over his pistol. "Tell Brian he needs to not mention he saw us with guns, either."

"He won't," BA assured them as he walked back out.

Murdock stepped in and, for a moment, appeared visibly shaken by what he saw. He took a deep breath and said, "I'll grab some towels from the bathroom. Be right back."

It didn't take long for the police and ambulance to arrive. The EMT's took Amy off, forbidding anyone to go with her, though they did allow the team to follow.

The team wasn't surprised when a pair of male police officers showed up to question them as they waited for Amy to get out of emergency surgery. They introduced themselves as Detective McKnight and Officer Sanchez.

"I know this is a bad time, but we need to get some questions answered," Detective McKnight apologized as he pulled a chair up so he faced the team and sat down. "Which one of you is Hannibal Smith?"

"That would be me," Hannibal answered.

"You told the responding officers that you went looking for your friend, Miss Allen, and found the house in that state. You then freed Miss Allen, and then called 911."

"Something wrong with that statement?" Hannibal asked mildly.

"No, no, just making sure I understood it," Detective McKnight said. "Any reason you didn't call the police when you realized your friend was missing?"

"You wouldn't consider her to be legally missing for another twenty-four hours," Hannibal replied steadily, noting as he did so that Murdock was leaning into Face and they were apparently absorbed in a quiet conversation about finally buying the dog Face had promised Murdock he could get. BA just looked worried, but he wasn't telling them to shut up, either.

"Know something of the law?" Officer Sanchez asked.

Hannibal allowed himself a small smile. "I should. Look, when we heard Amy hadn't shown up for work, we got worried. It's not like her not to show up for something like that."

"And why would you know that?" Detective McKnight queried.

"Because Amy's been a friend for years," Hannibal said.

"She's my girlfriend," Murdock interjected. "She stayed the night at the house I share with Face."

"And you would be?"

"H.M. Murdock." Murdock smiled. "And since you're probably dying of curiosity, this is Templeton Peck, also known as Face —" he gestured to Face "—and the big guy sitting on my left is B.A. Barracus."

Detective McKnight looked at all of them. "There was no sign of forced entry into that house where Miss Allen was found."

Face spread his hands. "Despite all of the nuns' efforts at redeeming me, I was a very bad boy as a kid," he said apologetically. "We rang the doorbell, but no one answered, and we knew from the dog that Amy was in the house."

"Ah, yes, the dog," Officer Sanchez nodded. "Care to explain how you found that?"

"Luck," Face answered honestly. "Look, we didn't kill that guy in the living room, and Amy's a friend. Wouldn't you do anything for your friends if you knew they were missing?"

"And there's no reason you're aware of that someone might choose to hurt Miss Allen in this way?" Detective McKnight asked.

"None," Hannibal replied. "But if I were you, I'd find out why the TV was playing nothing but Amy's news segments."

"Any of you have anything else to add?" Officer Sanchez asked.

"Do I get a secret decoder ring if I do?" Murdock piped up.

"Murdock," Hannibal said warningly.

"Mr. Murdock," Detective McKnight said, "were you and Miss Allen fighting?"

"No," Murdock said sharply. "I was trying to get her to stay and play hooky with us, but she kissed us goodbye and went to work."

"Us?"

Face glanced at Murdock, then Hannibal. Hannibal sighed, knowing that if he gave the word, Face would deny he had anything other than a platonic relationship with Murdock and Amy. Hannibal smiled crookedly at Face. "You keep expecting Murdock to keep quiet about the things that make him happy," he reminded Face gently.

Face looked faintly worried now. "You knew?"

"Had my suspicions, but dinner last night validated it," Hannibal confirmed. "Might as well tell the fine officers the truth, before they think you're hiding something."

Sighing, Face gave in. "Murdock and I are involved with Amy," Face told the policemen. "She's been seeing both of us for almost two months now."

"I see," Detective McKnight said carefully. "So she was with both of you this morning. Was she seeing anyone else?"

"Amy wouldn't cheat on us." Murdock rose swiftly at the accusation as BA growled.

"She's not that kind of girl," BA said angrily.

"Calm down, you two," Face said easily, tugging at his lover since he was easier to reach. "He's got to ask all the questions, even if we don't like them." He smiled apologetically at the detective as Murdock reluctantly sat back down and BA took a deep breath. "But I happen to agree with his statement. Amy loves him, and she enjoys our friendship too much to do that kind of lying to me."

"We'd kick her ass if she did," Hannibal added with a smile. "She's like a daughter to me."

"Someone stalked, stabbed and kidnapped her," BA stated with barely contained fury. "We wouldn't do that to one of our friends." He turned to the officers. "Amy was happy with those two crazy fools," he said, pointing to Face and Murdock. "She wouldn't cheat on them. Whoever did it was obsessed with her."

Detective McKnight looked at his partner and sighed. From his wallet, he pulled out a few business cards and passed them out. "If any of you think of anything else, please give me a call. I hope Miss Allen recovers."

He and his partner left, leaving the team alone.

Face closed his eyes, relieved that that part was over.

"Amy'll know who attacked her. Why don't they just wait and ask her?" BA demanded in frustration.

"Gotta eliminate us as suspects," Hannibal said reasonably.

"Hannibal, they're gonna look us up," BA said.

"Let them look," Hannibal returned in the same even tone. "What are they going to find, BA? That we're the A-Team?" He let that thought linger a moment before adding, "Face was right — whoever did this wasn't one of our enemies, it was someone obsessed with Amy. That means that our history doesn't matter. They have no evidence that we did anything to that guy, and we didn't. If we'd left and not called 911, they'd have more reason to suspect us."

He knew they were worried; it wouldn't be the first time they'd been framed for something. "When Amy wakes up and gives her statement, they won't have any reason to disbelieve us."

It was a small comfort, but they took it anyway.

Minutes ticked by. It was a good two hours later before a tall, broad-shouldered, football-player sized man stepped out into the waiting room. His white lab coat had clearly been donned hastily, likely to cover the fact his surgical top was stained.

"Are you the family of Amy Allen?" he asked.

"Close enough," Hannibal returned. "She has no family; we're her friends."

Face glanced at Murdock, who'd wandered down the hallway, pacing off some of his annoyance at the officer's questions. "Speak for yourself, Hannibal," Face injected, "I'd like to think Amy and I are a bit closer than just friends. I'm Templeton Peck, her boyfriend. I'm the one who found her." He turned to the physician. "How is she?"

"Let's go into this room, shall we?" He gestured to a small side room off the main hallway. "I like to talk to family in private — no need for the rest of the world to hear."

"Just a minute, please, Doctor. BA, would you get Murdock?" Hannibal asked.

BA nodded. He spoke quietly to Murdock, who shook his head, then took a deep breath and exhaled it. The two men returned shortly.

The doctor gestured to the room; then once the team had stepped inside and seated themselves, he shut the door behind them.

"I'll start over," he declared, sitting down at the small table. "I'm Dr. Adamski, the ER physician who treated Amy. Hannibal and Templeton, you said?

Hannibal smiled and shook his hand. "Hannibal Smith."

"I'm Templeton," Face clarified, shaking the doctor's hand as well.

"H.M. Murdock," Murdock said. "And that's BA. How's Amy?"

"Better than it first looked. The knife wound to her stomach was deep. Whoever did this to her did manage to cut into her intestines, but not too deeply, so we were able to stitch everything up fairly easily. The bruising is deep, but again, those will heal. The cuts on her arms and legs were severe, but not as deep as we initially feared. We did find traces of a sedative in her system. She also lost a lot of blood, which we replaced. All in all, Amy's very lucky. We've sedated her so she can get some rest before she tries to move. Best thing you guys can do for her now is go home and get some sleep."

"Ain't gonna get them to go home, Doc," BA noted. "Better to just let 'em stay — they ain't gonna sleep if she's here and they're not."

Dr. Adamski nodded, clearly not surprised, but not unhappy at his attempt. "I'll let the staff know that, then."

"How soon can we expect to take her home?" Face asked.

"Depends on her," Dr. Adamski said honestly. "At least a few days to make sure she doesn't strain the stitches, but she's definitely a fighter. We want to make sure she has no complications. Do you have any questions?"

Face looked at Hannibal, who shook his head. "Not at this time," Face said. "Thank you, Dr. Adamski. I assume we need to check with the nurse to find out what room she's in?"

"Yes, and you're welcome." Dr. Adamski stood and exited the room.

Murdock closed his eyes a moment, his relief clearly evident. "She's going to be fine." Face's hand reached over to clasp Murdock's tightly.

"See, what were you worried about?" Face asked, but his relief coated the words, making them sound less teasing than they were meant to be. He rose, pulling Murdock to his feet with him, and the two men embraced each other as if they were never going to let go.

Reassured by the news and by the way Face and Murdock were acting, Hannibal rose to his feet. "Come on; let's go find out where they've put her."

"Hey, beautiful," Face greeted Amy the following afternoon in her semi-private room. "Have a nice nap?"

She smiled as he leaned over to kiss her. He was careful in the way he kissed her, and felt anger stir that he had to be mindful of the bruises to her face.

"Where's Murdock? The nurses said he was here all night and this morning."

For a moment, he wished she'd sounded happier to see him, instead of asking about Murdock. He hid his disappointment and sat down in the chair next to the bed.

"He went to get lunch with BA and Hannibal," he told her. "I'll go when they get back — we didn't want to leave you alone. How are you?"

"Tired," she admitted. "The IV lines itch. I swear I can feel whatever they're pumping into me through the lines and it feels thick and weird, like I got maple syrup in my veins. My stomach hurts, especially if I take deep breaths, but I don't want to take anything more for it. I just end up falling asleep."

Face took her hand, mindful of the IV line. "The nurse told me you're not going to be allowed to eat normal for a few days, at least until they're sure your body can handle it. They were worried they might have to stick you on a feeding tube. Aside from that, you need to rest."

"I know," Amy said with a sigh. "I'm tired of sleeping. I want to go home."

"We'll get you home as soon as they say it's okay for you to go."

"Can't you convince them you'll take care of me?" Amy pleaded.

"I could, sweetheart, but as much as I've learned how to patch people up, I hate doing it," Face answered her honestly. "Getting you out of here sooner just means you'll be at greater risk of infection." He paused, met her gaze, and offered an apologetic smile. "Besides, I already asked. They said no. Not for another week at least, maybe longer."

Amy sighed. "If you couldn't convince them to go, then I'm really stuck here," she said peevishly.

He smiled sympathetically. "Sorry, sweetheart. Are you doing okay?"

She shrugged restlessly. "You know, there was a time I loved pink. Even over the painkillers, I keep seeing that damned room."

He nodded, understanding. "I'll make sure not to buy you anything in that color anymore."

She offered him a rueful smile. "Thanks. Does it help to avoid reminders like that?"

"You want the truth or the pretty lie?" he asked her.

"Oh, lie to me," she said with a smile. "At least with you I know when I'm being conned."

Face shot her an affronted look. "I am not that transparent."

"Yeah, right," she shot back, but he could see her usual good humor starting to light up her eyes. "How long have I known you, and who taught me the art of a good con? Said I was a natural?"

She had a point. "All right, all right, so you know me, which means you won't believe me when I say you might actually like pink again someday."

She met his gaze and sighed a little. "Maybe," she allowed. "Was that the pretty lie?"

He chuckled softly. "No, the pretty lie is where I tell you that you'll never have nightmares as long as you have me to hold you." He loved the annoyed look she shot him and only grinned wider. "So how long have you been up?"

"I woke up about ten minutes after Murdock left. I guess you called my boss?"

Face nodded. "Your friend Robyn connected me to him. He said for you to take as much time as you need. He wanted you to report on what happened, but I told him that if you felt up to doing that, you'd let him know." Face shook his head. "Does that guy have a machine for a heart? I can't believe he'd want you to report on your own kidnapping."

"Yeah, well, that's my boss. How do you know Robyn?"

"She's the one who called and let us know you hadn't shown up for work," Face told her.

Amy's mouth tightened briefly. "Guess she's a better friend than I gave her credit for," Amy said unhappily.

"Hey," Face admonished softly. "Don't go beating yourself up for it. We'll do something nice for her as a thank you, but she said she'd be by after work to see you."

Amy said nothing for a moment. "How the hell do you thank someone for saving your life like that?" she asked, gripping his hand.

"You say thank you, buy them dinner at Il Julio or something like that, and hope it never happens again," Face said simply. "Don't you remember?"

Amy sighed stubbornly. "Yeah, but somehow, in all the time I was on the team, I never felt nearly as compelled to say thank you. We just said it, moved on, had dinner to celebrate a successful mission — and it wasn't always something as classy as Il Julio. What Robyn did feels bigger than what we've done for each other."

Face shrugged. "It's not. You're making a bigger deal of it because as close as you kept her, there's a lot you didn't tell her."

Amy closed her eyes briefly, hating his perception even as she knew he was right. "Yeah. I never told her the truth about how I knew you and Murdock."

"Would it have mattered?" Face asked reasonably. "You wrote Murdock's name on my business card and stuck it in your Rolodex. You told Robyn Murdock was your boyfriend. It was enough for her to take the chance on calling me. If you'd told her more, there's a chance she might not have called at all. We talked about this, remember?"

"I know, but it doesn't stop me from feeling like crap," Amy replied.

"Well, stop that," Face admonished her. "You did what you thought was the right thing, and the fact you're here to wonder if you did is a good thing in itself."

"Amen to that," Hannibal interjected, strolling into the room. "Good afternoon, Amy."

Amy smiled, grateful for the distraction. "Hannibal, Face said you were with Murdock and BA?"

"They should be along in a minute," Hannibal assured her. "How are you, Amy?"

She looked at him hopefully, ignoring his question. "You taught Face everything he knows, right?"

"Not everything," Hannibal returned, grinning. "And no, I'm not going to spring you out of this hospital any sooner than he will. I spoke with your doctor the same time as he did. You're not getting out of here until you're in better shape than you are now. That bastard managed to slice into your intestines — not much, but enough that if we were still on the run, I'd be sticking you in a hospital to make sure you recovered before I took you back out on the road."

Frustrated, Amy sighed. She knew perfectly well he meant what he said. "You're not any fun, Hannibal."

"Maybe not," he agreed, "but if we can keep you from further injury, we will. You were very lucky that knife didn't go deeper than it did."

She pouted. "Doesn't change the fact that I would rather be anywhere but here," she countered.

Hannibal and Face chuckled. "I know the feeling," Hannibal said. "Have the cops stopped by yet?"

"They must've requested a call as soon as I woke up, because they were here in less than twenty minutes." Anger flashed in her eyes. "You're cleared of all suspicion, by the way. I can't believe they thought you guys might have something to do with what happened."

Face looked at her, realizing that wasn't what she was angriest about. "What did happen, Amy?"

She took a deep breath. "Someone didn't like the fact I didn't report on a story," she said sullenly.

"What?" Face asked, shocked. "You said you get turned down on story ideas every week."

"Public doesn't know that," Amy said bitterly. "All they see are the stories that do make it on the air."

"Whose story?" Hannibal asked.

She closed her eyes. "Jennifer Kimball's," she said, and her voice held a wealth of pain, regret, and bitterness. "She was four years old when she swallowed a pair of magnets." She shuddered and opened her eyes to meet Hannibal's gaze. "Her father, Kevin, was a single father. He kept telling me " Amy took a deep breath and Face's grip on her hand tightened reassuringly. "He kept telling me he wasn't sorry I was in pain, because maybe then I'd have — I'd have an idea of his pain."

"Amy." Hannibal's voice held the ring of command, and she looked up at him, the reflex ingrained enough from her time with the team. "Your boss had a reason not to air that story, correct?"

"There were other stories he thought were more important," Amy remembered.

"That was the one you said you did the research and it looked like any other accidental swallowing, wasn't it? And that the father was suing the hospital?" Face prompted.

She nodded. "Doesn't change that—"

"No, it doesn't change that you got hurt," Hannibal interrupted. "And if Mr. Kimball wasn't already dead, I'd have words with him about hurting you like this. But you're alive, and he's not. Did you promise him to air his story?"

"I said I'd try, but that not all ideas for stories were approved," Amy said.

"Then he chose to ignore that," Hannibal replied firmly. "That was his choice, not yours. You're not to blame for this."

"Then who, Hannibal?" Amy shot back. "My boss, for deciding that one kid's life might not be worth a two-minute story?"

"Blame Kevin Kimball," Face told her. "He's the one who did this to you."

"You weren't there. You didn't hear him."

"No, but we can guess what he said," Hannibal returned evenly. "Amy, we know how that goes, and if you want to talk about it, we'll listen."

"You can even talk to Billy," Murdock put in, stepping into the room with BA right behind him.

Face made room for Murdock to kiss Amy, but didn't let go of her hand. BA and Hannibal took up position around the bed.

"I don't think Billy's going to help much," Amy argued.

"Then you'll just have to talk to me," BA declared. "Don't need to be listening to no crazy talk."

Amy didn't reply, but looked at all of them in turn. "Thank you, all of you," she said finally. "If this had happened and you weren't around —"

"It didn't," BA interrupted. "Thinkin' what if will only drive you crazy, and Murdock's crazy enough for all of us."

"Why, BA, I think you paid me a compliment," Murdock said wonderingly.

"BA's right," Hannibal agreed. "We'll help you through this." He grinned. "So you just let me know if Face and Murdock don't take good care of you."

Amy smiled. "I will, Hannibal," she assured him.

"You hear that, Murdock?" Face asked. "Guess that means we're on our best behavior, then."

Murdock grinned mischievously. "At least until Amy's feeling better," he agreed.

"Don't make me laugh," Amy warned, choking back a laugh. "It hurts too much."

"Got you to smile for real, didn't it?" Murdock said unrepentantly.

"Don't you all have someplace else to be? I've been wounded and I need my rest," Amy said, trying to sound exasperated and only managing to be amused. "Flying to teach, houses to renovate, cars to fix, other women to flirt with?"

"Now why would Face and Murdock look at any other women when they've got you?" Hannibal countered with a grin. At her glare, he relented. "Gentlemen, you heard the lady, she wants us gone."

"I'll bring you some clothes tomorrow," Face promised her.

Amy pretended to pout. "You mean to say my hospital gown isn't the height of fashion?"

Face grinned. "Well, if you want it to be," he allowed, "but I thought you might like to be in your own clothes. I might not be able to spring you completely out of here, love, but I thought you might like a bit of sunshine at least."

Amy's eyes widened and her heart leapt at the new endearment. Still, she eyed him suspiciously. "You're planning something, aren't you?"

He grinned. "You can think that if it makes you happier," he replied, kissing her before he moved to let Murdock step in.

"Call us if you want anything," Murdock suggested as he, too, kissed her. "Love you, querida."

"I love you, too, Murdock," Amy replied. She looked at Face. "And I love you, too."

"And here I thought you had room only for Murdock," he teased her with an easy smile, but he reached over and clasped her hand in a telling gesture.

Startled by his action, Amy glanced over at Murdock, who was giving Face an exasperated look that said he was being too damned discreet again. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized that was the closest she was going to get to a public declaration.

"I'll have your car fixed by the end of the week," BA vowed. "Get well, Amy."

The three men filed out of the room.

Hannibal lingered. "Are you going to be okay alone?" he asked.

"Yes, Hannibal." Amy smiled, appreciating his concern. "Murdock looks like he needs sleep and Face doesn't look much better, no matter how much they're both trying to con me into thinking otherwise. Go make them get some rest. I'm not going anywhere, at least not tonight."

"It wasn't your fault," he repeated.

She met his gaze. "Right now, it feels like it. Maybe eventually I'll see it differently, but —" She shrugged and offered him a small smile. "You know how it goes."

"I do," he agreed mildly. "So tell me what you don't want Face and Murdock to know."

She looked away. "Do we have to do this now, Hannibal?"

"Later it just gets harder. Why did Kimball kill himself?"

Amy didn't answer for several minutes. He waited patiently. "I don't know," she said finally, and she knew even as she said it that Hannibal wouldn't buy that.

"Amy." He shook his head slightly and looked at her with that same steady gaze. She knew he'd wait patiently until she said something. How many times had she seen Face try to con him into believing everything was OK, only to be stopped by that same look, that same unwavering voice? Too many, she remembered.

"He said I was his last hope. That he had nothing anymore." She closed her eyes, hating that she felt relieved to say it to someone, hating the understanding that flashed across his eyes. "Please, Hannibal, go take care of my guys. I'm sure they're standing right outside the door, listening in."

Hannibal said nothing for a moment. His eyes measured her. Her mind flashed back to the times he'd come to check on her during those first few missions she'd gone on with the team. He hadn't expected her to know how to con, how to hold a weapon, how to hold her own in a van full of alpha males. Every time she'd proven that she did know or could quickly pick up those skills, he'd had to reevaluate her. He'd looked at her in much the same way, as if she'd surprised him again and he had to recalculate her strength.

"Wouldn't be right if they weren't listening," he pointed out finally. "They're the ones who'll be holding you when the nightmares come knocking — better they know now than later. I'll go and take care of them, make sure they get some rest tonight. Don't you worry about that. You get some rest yourself, kid." He sounded so paternal, it made her heart ache. He reached out and gripped her shoulder gently, reassuringly, and she had to close her eyes lest he see the tears that suddenly sprang up at the gesture. She heard him leave, and then took a deep breath, mindful of the way the motion pulled at her stitches.

She felt raw, fundamentally broken by the bitter knowledge she'd gained. Yet somehow she had the deepest sense of faith about how she was going to survive it, and who was going to help her through it.

For a moment, she wished she hadn't sent Face and Murdock away: she missed them already. The feeling was a sharp ache, stronger than the pain from the stitches in her stomach, sweeter for the knowledge that she was alive to feel it. She knew without a doubt she was never going to be able to live without feeling this longing to be with them.

Then again, she reminded herself, knowing them, they'd be back soon enough — just as soon as they were able to get away from Hannibal and BA, maybe even sooner. Her lips curved into a smile and she tried to shift into a more comfortable position.

She couldn't wait.

Finis

9/1/07


End file.
